System engineering studies for advanced geosynchronous remote sensors: some initial thoughts on the 4th generation

Future operational geosynchronous remote sensors will respond to a broad range of environmental and military/intelligence mission needs. This paper describes initial system engineering design studies for 4th generation operational geosynchronous remote sensors that address notional future mission requirements. Two hyperspectral sensor architectures were considered: an imaging Fourier transform spectrometer and an imaging prism spectrometer. While both imaging FTS and dispersive approaches are viable over a broad trade space, each requires new technology that must be demonstrated low risk by 2017 to enable a mission pathfinder by 2025. To reach this important objective requires that technology risk reduction start now.