Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER)

Amendment 11-16-22: Adds Proposal Question and Answers

Amendment 11-03-22: Adds the CUI Guide under attachments.

DARPA envisions the POWER program performers will create novel integrations of optical technologies to create an airborne relay capable of redirection, wavefront correction, and energy harvesting of optical beams. A final demonstration will use three airborne relay nodes hosted by existing platforms, to transmit energy from a ground source laser up to high altitude for long-range efficiency, and back down to a ground receiver 200 kilometers away. It is envisioned that the platforms will be operating at or around 60,000 feet to minimize atmospheric losses and enhance relay survivability. Efficient and precise redirection is necessary to avoid platform thermal challenges and to ensure the relayed beam effectively illuminates the desired target. To account for degradation of beam quality as the beam transits atmospheric disturbances, the relay must be able to correct the optical wavefront as needed to achieve system efficiency goals. Finally, the relays must be able to selectively harvest energy from the optical beam to provide on-board auxiliary power and thereby demonstrate necessary characteristics for future indefinitely persistent relay platforms. Proposals that leverage existing and emerging optical technologies in a novel way to achieve program goals in an effective low size, weight, power, and cost package are encouraged.