EO Scanned Micro-LADAR, Phase II

A specific NASA application for Micro-LADAR is for deployment on geosynchronous satellite servicing and refueling missions, such as "Restore". Micro-LADAR will aid with location, alignment, and docking between the servicing satellite and the GEO-satellite to be serviced. Other potential NASA applications include asteroid and space junk rendezvous; both areas of growing significance. Furthermore, situational awareness, terrain mapping, and collision avoidance will be enabled by micro-LADAR deployed on small UAV platforms. Commercial applications for Micro-LADAR are numerous. In Oil & Gas LADAR is used for dynamic positioning of tankers during docking operations with platforms and for security on oil platforms due to its ability to track vessels and better sensitivity to non-metallic vessels. LIDAR is also being used to measure the length of the drill string. Transportation is a large potential market for Micro-LADAR. It may be used to trigger fixed cameras and measure vehicle speeds. A new application is to mount imaging LADAR under gantries for vehicle profiling and tracking for law enforcement. LADAR is also being used for vehicle separation monitoring, over height warnings, and axle counting. For security markets LADAR can be used to trigger or mark video cameras and as motion sensors they have a much greater range than the current technology. For perimeter security, LADAR is being used to detect, track, image and ID intruders. More »