Ouija Satellite Guest Investigator Data Challenge

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Contract Opportunity

In approximately June 2025, DARPA will be launching the Ouija satellite into Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). Ouija will carry multiple scientific instruments that will quantify the High Frequency (HF) noise environment in space, gather a first-ever in situ dataset to significantly improve the characterization of the bottom-side of the ionosphere from inside the F2 layer, and validate accurate near real-time HF propagation predictions. The VLEO altitude regime (approximately 200 km - 300 km) is of particular interest due to its information rich environment where ionospheric electron density is at a maximum.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technologies Office (STO) is considering a “Guest Investigator” (GI) program to broaden the basic research utility of the in situ datasets collected during the Ouija mission. Selected GIs will initiate research projects that supplement or enhance the Ouija science return with their unique methods, facilities, missions, or capabilities. This can include new research projects that do not require GI-specified data collections, theoretical investigations that will advance the scientific return on Ouija datasets, and/or investigate unique conditions sampled by Ouija such as coronal activity, day/night comparisons, South Atlantic Anomaly transit, etc.

DARPA does not envision broad public release of the dataset; in situ data will be released only to selected GIs. Processed/aggregated data will be publishable and releasable in coordination with DARPA. This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to (1) establish a community of interest, (2) understand big scientific problems that may be uniquely addressed by access to VLEO/F2 layer Ouija data, and (3) determine the potential for large leaps in the current state-of-the-art of scientific knowledge by using Ouija data. Based on the scientific potential, and the breadth of the community of interest, DARPA may choose to release a funded GI opportunity in the future.

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