(MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, AL/CAMBRIDGE, MA) – Space Force Unit 13th Delta Operations Squadron (13 DOS), responsible for Guardian education, including institutional professional military education, continuing education, advanced education programs, and USSF officer accessions, today announced it will use the extended reality suite, SOLAR, developed by Charles River Analytics, to teach space operational concepts and situational awareness in the space domain.

A result of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Hallmark program, SOLAR, a KWYN™ product, combines immersive space training materials and virtual and augmented reality experiences to visualize and interact with satellite assets in a 4D environment. The program builds trainees’ spatiotemporal understanding, proximity and threat assessment skills, and experience with maneuver options.

“SOLAR’s ability to help Guardians conceptualize satellite motion, planes, and regimes, relative to other objects with relative ease is incredibly valuable,” said a member of the 13 DOS. “Guardians learn space domain functions and mission execution, including effective space battle management, in a stimulating, interactive environment.”

With tens of thousands of objects in Earth’s orbit, satellites, launches, and military operations are increasingly at risk. SOLAR helps Guardians quickly develop situational awareness to maintain critical space assets. The application’s novel visualizations and interface give Guardians scalable capabilities that can be accessed and edited anywhere to enhance their understanding of 3D and 4D space concepts, such as satellite structure, terminology, payload functions, orbital elements, mission needs, threats, and offensive and defensive space control course of action options.

“Our goal with SOLAR is to provide an intuitive, engaging, and reliable tool for Guardians and multi-domain warfighters,” said Rob Hyland, Principal Scientist and Director of Transition at Charles River Analytics. “Given the feedback we’ve received thus far, it appears we’re on the right track and we look forward to watching the SOLAR user community grow.”

For more information about SOLAR, please visit: https://cra.com/projects/solar/.