9362197 DOUGLASS This project will to use a low altitude, polar-orbiting, data collection satellite platform, in conjunction with commercial communication satellites, to provide direct worldwide recovery and distribution of data from in-situ instrumentation platforms. It also provides a command link for remote control of the untended platforms. This project offers an affordable approach to greatly improved polar telescience. It will significantly increase communication capacity and reduce delays in data recovery for deployed systems. The overall objective of the program is to increase the daily data throughput capability by a factor of 100 or more, compared to existing systems. The anticipated total system cost makes it feasible to develop the system with private sector financing and operate it on a a fee-for- service basis. The Phase I study will (1) examine user requirements, (2) develop a system specification, (3) prepare a preliminary design of the sensor platform and satellite equipment, (4) perform a cost effectiveness analysis, including budgetary life cycle costs, and (5) develop a Phase II plan for system development, simulation, and demonstration. The study will emphasize minimization of total system complexity and costs by using simple sensor platform communication packages, low cost development options, proven satellite components, and existing, proven comsat systems for data distribution. ***
