The Aerostar engineering team is a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in sensor technology, airborne system design, and command/control systems. Aerostar is committed to customer success via the customization of standard products, system-level design for end-user CONOPs, sensor integration, and customized machine interfaces for the fusion of data between systems. Because our technologies are used by U.S. Government agencies and industry partners, Aerostar supports a variety of engineering project models — from acting as a prime contractor and system integrator, to designing mission-specific components for integration with existing systems.
Mission Planning
Planning is critical to mission success. Aerostar provides cradle-to-grave mission planning capabilities to solve customer needs.
Successful mission planning begins with understanding mission requirements, test objectives, Concept of Operations (CONOPS), and customer expectations. Based on these unique needs, Aerostar designs test architectures tailored for each customer’s mission and deploys a variety of high-altitude balloon capabilities and configurations to ensure mission success.
Aerostar’s commitment to mission planning extends to all phases of test preparation and execution and utilizes specialized tools and capabilities to support the rapid development of high-altitude payloads. This includes analyses of historical winds and flight trajectory to optimize payload performance. As well as in-flight payload command and control (C2) and situational awareness (SA) monitoring using the Thunderhead System. Aerostar also provides the customer with logistics support including transportation coordination, frequency authorizations, personnel scheduling, and air traffic management.
Airborne System Design
With a rich heritage of past experience in designing airborne systems, spanning aircraft, balloons, airships, and aerostats, Aerostar stands ready to create custom flight vehicles for any application. Aerostar provides end-to-end development and fabrication, including materials specification, vehicle design, control and communication systems, propulsion systems, and launch and recovery solutions.
Command & Control Systems
Aerostar has developed a framework of tools to create an effective and intuitive common operating picture for applications from piloting to battlefield management. These systems combine information from multiple data sources to provide situational awareness, in addition to allowing for direct control of platforms and sensors. The software powering the interface can be scaled efficiently to larger and smaller hosts and supports multiple vectors of deployment, from dedicated, embedded processing units, to standard PCs, to cloud-hosted systems for larger applications.
Sensor Design
Aerostar has designed and integrated a wide range of sensor systems. The team develops and maintains radar solutions, including antenna arrays, electronics, software, and signal processing. We also have experience specifying and integrating camera systems, either ground-based or airborne, and various other atmospheric, measurement, and communications sensors.