ARTEMIS tasked for first-of-its-kind military use
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The company's Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer has successfully completed its one-year experimental mission aboard the Air Force Research Laboratory's Tactical Satellite-3.
Based on the success of that mission, Raytheon has been notified that the Air Force Space Command will take control of TacSat-3 with the intent to use ARTEMIS in an operational capacity.
Bill Hart, vice president for Raytheon Space Systems said, "ARTEMIS can detect various man-made and natural materials, which adds a fundamentally new capability for the DoD."
The ARTEMIS hyperspectral imager combines spectral information with geo-location coordinates in an easy-to-read map. This information is then sent directly to troops on the ground in near real time.
The TacSat-3 program was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of developing and launching a military payload.
“TacSat-3 has been a pathfinder to explore concepts of operation for future ORS systems and demonstrates how great things can be achieved on a small budget and in a short time," said Dr. Peter Wegner, director of the Pentagon's ORS Office.
"Based on our experience on TacSat-3, we're ready to build operational hyperspectral systems like ARTEMIS quickly and affordably," said Hart.
