Satellites at the beck and call of ground troops.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 July 2009
• Author: Jean, Grace V.

Military leaders for years have been asking for a capability that would allow ground units to commandeer satellites to obtain imagery of their surroundings. To realize that vision, the Defense Department has developed a system that may one day end up in the hands of troops.

The technology, a new hyperspectral imager, is orbiting Earth aboard an experimental spacecraft called Tactical Satellite-3. The Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer, or ARTEMIS for short, consists of a trio of components: a telescope, a spectrometer and an onboard digital signal processor.

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Using a portable device, a tactical commander would be able to communicate with the satellite directly and "call up" a mission for ARTEMIS to look at a particular location. The next time the satellite passed over the area, the sensor would take the images and send him the requested targeting data within 10 minutes.

"That's actionable information that he can use," says Ed Gussin, program manager of ARTEMIS at Raytheon Co. The company developed the $15...