The ISAT program, under the direction of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Special Projects Office and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, includes the development of technologies required to deploy extremely large antennas in space for tactical sensing of moving targets on the ground.

Harris is responsible for the design of the radar sensor payload, which will provide Moving Target Indicator (MTI) surveillance of areas previously obscured from view by airborne assets.

"We are pleased to have been selected to continue our support of this critical antenna technology initiative, and to be given the opportunity to mature the innovative technologies we previously developed for the ISAT payload," said Russ Haney, president of the National Programs business unit of Harris Corporation's Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD).

"Performing complex MTI radar missions from space poses many technology challenges. With its collective years of innovation and leadership in this arena, however, the Lockheed Martin/Harris team is certainly up to the challenge."

Harris successfully completed three prior contracts for earlier phases of the ISAT program.

Under this phase of the program, Harris will complete the critical design of a scaled demonstration unit of the large, phased-array radar sensor that will be used to validate the technology and structural design concept for the full-size objective system.

At nearly the height of the Empire State Building, the 300-meter objective system structure must be capable of being compressed to the size of an SUV for launch. This phase will take the payload design for the FDS radar payload through a tailored Critical Design Review (CDR).

The ISAT FDS is planned to launch in 2010.

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