Question

In a government request for proposal, the mission statement sent out to space system contractors reads as follows:

“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) require the ability to conduct damage assessment over wide areas as quickly as possible after a natural disaster. Also, they must be able to locate injured and/or stranded people after any natural disasters in the US and direct appropriate relief efforts to these people. Other countries may want to participate in this program.

After Katrina and other similar disasters in the US, many people were stranded without food, water or medical treatment for long periods of time. Damage to areas affected by the disaster was not completely assessed in a reasonable period of time, thereby delaying necessary aid.”

As a senior space system mission architect and designer for a space systems company, your task is to analyze the above mission statement and recommend a space system for your company to develop to satisfy this need (Assume the appropriate trades have been accomplished to rule out non-space solutions.)

1) Create a list of at least 5 specific goals or objectives for this program.

2) Write a list of at least 5 top level system requirements for this system.

3) Write a list of at least 5 system performance requirements.

4) Explain a concept of operations for this system.

5) Identify specific payload trades that should be undertaken and give your assessment of what the result should be and why.

6) Choose 2 subsystems, other than the payload, and identify trades that must be done and give your assessment of what the results should be and why.

7) What orbit is appropriate for this system and why? Include altitude and inclination.

8) How many satellites should be in the system and why?

9) Where should the ground station be located, and how many should there be and why?

10) Should the collected data sent to the ground station be raw or processed. State your rationale.

11) What data communication architecture might be appropriate for this mission and why?

Answer 1