Argentine Space Assets
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NPS ARCHIVE 1997.09 O YARZABAL, X. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California THESIS ARGENTINE SPACE ASSETS by Xavier Pablo A. Oyarzabal September, 1997 Thesis Advisor: Jeff Jenncr Second Reader: Thomas Betterton Thesis 09826 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. ?m LIBRARY ^GRADUATE SCHOOL sY CA 833435101 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No 0704- 0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188 University ) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT Fighting DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED September 1997 Master" s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS ARGENTINE SPACE ASSETS 6. AUTHOR(S) Oyarzabal, Xavier Pablo A. 8. PERFORMING 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) ORGANIZATION REPORT Naval Postgraduate School NUMBER Monterey, CA 93943-5000 10. SPONSORING / 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) This thesis is an attempt to define how some of the commercial space assets already in use or under development could be useful to the Argentine Navy as tools for better accomplishment of their basic missions. Research efforts involved investigating part of what is available on the international market and some space related international laws and policies that may represent limits for military use of civilian assets. Basically divided in two main areas , communications and remote sensing, this thesis covers the basics of GEO and LEO communication satellites and provides an overview of what could be expected from commercial remote sensmg systems. Through examples, the feasibility of usmg civilian space assets in the military is demonstrated. Finally, an objective analysis is made to define the best approach to improve Argentine Navy space capabilities. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER Low Earth Orbit Satellites, Geostationary Satellites, ORBCOMM, Remote OF PAGES Sensing, SPOT, SeaWifs. 275 16. PRICE CODE 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE LIMITATION OF REPORT OF ABSTRACT Unclassified OF Unclassified Unclassified ABSTRACT UL NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 1 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited ARGENTINE SPACE ASSETS Xavier Pablo A. Oyarzabal Lieutenant Commander, Argentine Navy Argentine Naval Academy, 1 98 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SPACE SYSTEMS OPERATIONS from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL September 1997 ABSTRACT This thesis is an attempt to define how some of the commercial space assets already in use or development could be useful for the Argentine Navy as a tool for better accomplishment of their basic missions Research efforts involved investigating part of what is available on the international market and some international laws or policies referred to space that may represent limits for military use of civilian assets. Basically divided in two main areas , communications and remote sensing, this thesis cover the basics of GEO and LEO communication satellites, and provides an overview of what could be expected from commercial remote sensing systems. Through examples, the feasibility of using civilian space assets in the military is demonstrated. Finally, an objective analysis is made to define the best approach to improve Argentine Navy space capabilities. VI OX LIBRARY TGRADUATE SCHOOL i CA 93943-5101 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. MISSIONS AND REQUIREMENTS 7 A. BACKGROUND..... 7 B. GENERAL MISSION STATEMENT 11 1. Mission Statement #1 14 2. Mission Statement #2 14 C. CONSTRAINTS 14 1. Constraint # 1: Limited Funding 15 2. Constrain 2 No action in space matters can be taken that is contrary to the National Policies 18 3. Constraint #3 No action can be taken that is contrary to International Space Law 20 III. COMMUNICATION SATELLITES IN GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT 27 A. INTRODUCTION 27 B. GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES 28 C. WHAT CIVILIAN SPACE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IN GEO COULD BE AVAILABLES FOR ARGENTINE NAVY NOW AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE? 32 D. HOW CAN THE ARGENTINE NAVY USE COMMERCIAL GEO SATELLITES TO SUPPORT NAVAL OPERATIONS? 33 1. Requirements 33 Vll 2. INMARSAT 39 3. INTELSAT 42 4. Challenge Athena as an Example of Implementation 47 5. Legal concerns in the use of INTELSAT and INMARSAT with military purposes 51 6. Argentine Implementation 54 E. BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING GEO COMMERCIAL SATELLITES 57 1. Benefits 57 2. Disadvantages 60 F. SUMMARY 62 IV. COMMUNICATION SATELLITES IN LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO) 63 A. INTRODUCTION 63 B. LOW EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES 64 C. WHAT CIVILIAN SPACE COMMUNICATION BIG LEO'S SYSTEMS COULD BE AVAILABLE FOR ARGENTINE IN THE FUTURE? 67 1. IRIDIUM 67 2. GLOBALSTAR 72 3. TELEDESIC 76 4. Probable Availability 81 D. MILITARY APPLICATIONS 82 1. Benefits 83 2. Disadvantages 85 E. SUMMARY 86 Mil V. ORBITAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION (ORBCOMM) DIGITAL DATA COMMUNICATION AND POSITION SYSTEM 89 A. INTRODUCTION 89 B. BACKGROUND 90 C. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 92 1. Space Segment 92 2. Ground Segment 96 3. Subscriber Terminal (Users Terminal) 98 D. CAPABILITIES 100 1. Digital Data Communication 100 2. Position Determination 105 E. APPLICATIONS 106 1. Commercial Applications 106 2. Military Applications 108 3. Possible Argentine Navy Applications Ill F. BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES 114 1. Benefits 114 2. Disadvantages 1 16 G. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 118 VI. MILITARY APPLICATION OF COMMERCIAL IMAGERY SYSTEMS 121 A. INTRODUCTION 121 B. PARAMETERS TO CONSIDER IN THE USE OF CIVILIAN REMOTE SENSED DATA 125 1. Spatial Resolution 125 IX 2. Spectral Resolution 126 3. Timeliness 126 C. MILITARY APPLICATIONS [OTA- ISC-558, 1993] 130 1. Military Operations 130 2. Reconnaissance 131 3. Arms Control 131 4. Mapping, Charting and Geodesy 132 D. INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS 132 E. BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING COMMERCIAL REMOTE SENSING 136 1. Benefits 136 2. Disadvantages 138 F. EXISTING COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS - OVERVIEW 139 1. LANDSAT Series 141 2. Resurs Series 143 3. Almaz 144 4. SPOT 145 5. Dong Fang Hong Series 145 6. Japanese Earth Remote Sensing Satellite (JERS-1) 146 7. Indian Resources Satellite Series (IRS-1A /1B/1C/P2) 147 8. European Remote Sensing Satellite ERS-1 /2 148 9. CANADIAN RADARSAT 149 VII. SPOT IMAGERY 151 A. INTRODUCTION 151 B. BACKGROUND 151 C. SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS 153 1. Space segment 153 2. Ground Segment 156 D. OBTAINING DATA 158 E. POSSIBLE ARGENTINE NAVY APPLICATIONS 161 1. Mission Planing 161 2. Military Analysis 162 3. Surveillance 162 F. SPOT FEATURES 162 1. Standardized Products 162 2. Stored Data Available 164 3. Sensor Tilt Capability 164 4. Along Track Scanner 164 5. Cost 165 6. French Ownership 166 7. World-wide Availability 166 VIII. SEA VIEWING WIDE FIELD OF VIEW SENSOR (SEAWIFS) 169 A. INTRODUCTION 169 B. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 171 1. Space Segment 171 2. SeaWifs Data Processing System 176 C. SEAWIFS DATA MANAGEMENT 177 D. SEAWIFS APPLICATIONS 180 1. Research Applications 180 2. Commercial Applications 182 XI 3. Operational Applications 182 E. POSSIBLE USES OF SEAWIFS DATA BY THE ARGENTINE NAVY 183 1. Fishing Control 184 2. Mining Operations 185 3. Coastal Special Operations 185 4. Landing Operations 185 5. Submarine Operations 185 F. BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING SEAWIFS DATA WITH RESEARCH PURPOSES 186 1. Benefits 186 2. Disadvantages 187 G. THE NEXT STEP ABOUT USING SEAWIFS DATA 188 IX. CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS 191 A. CONCLUSIONS 191 1. Use of space is definitely beneficial to the Argentine Navy 191 2. Space assets are expensive 192 3. Space assets are available 193 4. Space use requires understanding 193 5. Under certain circumstances, use of space for military purposes is acceptedl94 6. The United States is increasing military use of commercial space assets 195 7. Space is commercially attractive 195 8. Space assets rapidly become obsolete 195 B. SELECTION CRITERIA 196 1. Operational Concept 197 2. Criteria 198 3. Analysis 202 Ml X. RECOMMENDATIONS 213 A. RECAPITULATION 213 B. GENERAL STEPS TO IMPROVE ARGENTINE NAVY SPACE CAPABILITY 214 1. Define Argentine Navy Space Objectives 214 2. Emphasize Argentine Navy Interest in U.S. Space Cooperation 215 3. Define technical direction and investment 216 4. Space awareness 216 5. Inter-service cooperation 218 C. PRACTICAL STEPS TO IMPROVE ARGENTINE NAVY SPACE CAPABILITY 218 l.SeaWifs 218 2. ORBCOMM 218 3. Remote Sensing Imagery 219 4. Network Development 220 APPENDICES A. ARGENTINE NAVY UNITS 221 B. THE NATIONAL SPACE PLAN 225 LIST OF REFERENCES 247 INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST 257 Xlll ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to express my recognition to Jeff Jenner, my thesis advisor, for his most valuable teaching and his will in making my job more useful and enjoyable. To Admiral Thomas Betterton for helping me with his experienced point of view and clarifying ideas. To my mother, who since my young years encouraged me to pursue this fascinating carrier. Above all, I want to thanks Marta, my wife and mother of our five children, for being indefatigable and supporting mate, for being kind and unwavering, but mainly for teaching me the secret of not to worry about the things we can not change.