The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate has opened a new $7.33 million facility that will house the development of satellite technologies using advanced modeling and simulation.
The Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico will help speed up the delivery of space systems to warfighters, the AFRL said Thursday.
The RAPID lab features collaborative modeling and simulation workspaces for up to 50 scientists in which experts from the government, industry and academia can work together on projects addressing the U.S. military’s space requirements.
“Through modeling and simulation, we’ll be able to rapidly test out programs without the time-consuming and more expensive process of building a satellite prototype,” explained Col. Jon Luminati, head of SVD’s Integrated Experiments and Evaluation Division, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kirtland.