Aircraft Flight Evaluation of a Ballistic Missile Range Safety Technology (BMRST) System

Chris G. Bartone, Aaron Wilson, Craig Nesbit, Richard Phillips and Robert Rexrode

Abstract:	The Ballistic Missile Range Safety Technology (BMRST) System has been developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate, Ballistic Missile Technology program. The purpose of the BMRST program is to develop and demonstrate a certifiable mobile launch range tracking and control system based upon the Global Positioning System (GPS) that can support military and commercial space launch vehicles for range safety applications. The BMRST System provides precise remote position and velocity using the GPS and an Inertial Navigation System (INS). The equipment installed on-board the launch vehicle transmits information using an S-Band data link to two mobile ground tracking antenna systems that are part of the BMRST Mobile Operation Center (MOC). The BMRST also has a Command Destruct System (CDS) capability to ensure the public safety should the launch vehicle pose a threat to people or property on the ground. As part of an overall test demonstration program, aircraft flight tests were conducted from January 22-26, 2001 to ensure system performance prior to the systems first deployment in Kodiak, AK in March 2001. This paper describes these tests with emphasis on the last day of tests.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2001) June 11 - 13, 2001 Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	829 - 840
Cite this article:	Bartone, Chris G., Wilson, Aaron, Nesbit, Craig, Phillips, Richard, Rexrode, Robert, "Aircraft Flight Evaluation of a Ballistic Missile Range Safety Technology (BMRST) System," Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (2001), Albuquerque, NM, June 2001, pp. 829-840.
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