Discoverer II Program summary

Abstract

The Discoverer II Joint Program is a joint USA Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Army technology demonstration program. When successful, the Discoverer II Program's demonstration of two satellites integrated with an Army Tactical Exploitation System (TES) will support the technical feasibility, cost affordability and mission utility of a subsequent program to launch a full constellation of satellites known as the Space-Based Radar (SBR) Objective System. Such a space-based objective system will offer high-range-resolution ground moving target indication (HRR-GMTI), synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, and terrain mapping using collection capabilities for high-resolution digital terrain elevation data (DTED). Theater or joint task force commanders will task these advanced capabilities directly from the area of operations. Conversely, the satellites will downlink collected data directly to theater ground stations for timely exploitation. The Discoverer II program will design, fabricate and launch two research and development (R&D) prototype HRR-GMTI/SAR satellites, and conduct a one-year, in-orbit demonstration of the satellites integrated with a TES. The program is jointly managed and is administered as an Air Force acquisition program by the Discoverer II Joint Program Office.