Civil Space Systems and Technology

The Civil Space Systems and Technology Office was established to leverage Lincoln Laboratory's technologies and expertise to enable next-generation civilian space missions. Many space technologies and capabilities that are relevant for national security applications have applicability to non-military missions such as homeland security, agriculture, commerce, health, and science. Our goal is to contribute to these missions by developing and delivering these technologies in partnership with stakeholders and end users.

We offer a diverse collection of advanced technologies, systems expertise, and state-of-the-art facilities. See below to explore how these capabilities might enable your civil space mission or support scientific discovery.

Prototype 100,000-pixel magnetic calorimeter array developed via collaboration between NASA GSFC and MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Photo: NASA GSFC

Core technologies

Our core technology research focuses on inventing new materials, devices, and components to enable revolutionary system capabilities. We pursue innovation in a wide set of areas, including imagers, lasers, quantum systems, RF technology, and optics.

A photo of a small satellite in a studio

Systems expertise

Our engineers ensure that all the components of a system work together to achieve the desired results. Our work ranges from trade and design studies at the beginning of a program, to planning and executing the assembly, integration, and testing of prototype systems. Example mission applications include space payloads for scientific applications, optical and quantum communications demonstrations, and three-dimensional imaging laser radars (lidar).

Prototype telescopes, such as the one above, were designed, built, and tested for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) system.

Capabilities

Our skilled engineering researchers utilize state-of-the-art equipment in facilities such as our microsystems prototyping foundry, optical systems test facility, and environmental test laboratory to build system prototypes for demonstrating new capabilities. Software engineers complete the system with the addition of sophisticated on-board and ground-based computing, supported by AI technology and our supercomputing center. These prototypes are tested in operational environments to evaluate their ability to provide information to end users for decision support or scientific applications.

a screenshot of a user interface shows a world map with radar-like depictions of rain bands, colored blue, green, and yellow.

aviation weather

Global Synthetic Weather Radar

By compiling lightning data, satellite imagery, and numerical weather models, the GSWR provides radar-like analyses and forecasts over regions not observed by actual weather radars.

weather

TROPICS

A constellation of small satellites is collecting rapidly refreshed weather data to advance studies of hurricane structure and intensity and improve forecasts.

An illustration of data being sent across a laser from a small satellite to a ground station on Earth.

laser communications

TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD)

The laser communications payload has delivered terabytes of data from a satellite to Earth at record-breaking rates that will transform future science missions.

A map of the United States with areas colored on a scale from yellow to dark red, indicating drought severity.

climate change

Artificial Intelligence–Based Drought Prediction

We are developing a neural network using data derived from satellite measurements of temperature and humidity to improve drought monitoring and forecasting.

More Projects

A computer-generated image of the AXIS telescope in space.

In the Media

AXIS mission selected as NASA Astrophysics Probe competition finalist

Oct 29

MIT News

At Kennedy Space Center, Laboratory staff members Justin Dunbeck (left) and Steven Constantine unpack and examine the Optical Communications System payload for NASA's Artemis II mission to the Moon. Photo: NASA/Glenn Benson.

First communications user terminal demonstrated in two-way laser relay prepares for Moon flyby

Oct 18

Commemorative photograph with the Children's Selection Committee members.

In the Media

"Torifune" is the new name for asteroid 2001 CC21

Oct 1

Hayabusa Project

More News

On the watch for potentially hazardous asteroids

LINEAR, the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research, program is expanding astronomers' knowledge about the population of asteroids and comets in our solar system.

Lighting up the speed of communications

Revolutionary enabling technologies are paving the way to NASA's dreams for missions that send scientific data from distances as far away as Mars at incredible speeds that make possible receipt of huge volumes of data and even near-real-time data analysis.