ĐÓ°ÉĘÓƵ

Projects and Missions

Below is a sampling of APL’s critical contributions to critical challenges. Projects and missions are displayed in alphabetical order. 

Filter projects and missions by area of impact, mission area, or both.

An image collage shows the various technologies and people, both on the ground and in space, susceptible to space weather. A coronal mass ejection and solar flare emerging from the Sun on the left illustrate some of the more extreme causes of space weather. (Credit: Johns Hopkins APL)

Space Weather Sensors

APL is developing a small, highly capable charged-particle sensor to deliver data that can help Air Force operators assess whether space weather conditions play a role in spacecraft anomalies.
Learn more about Space Weather Sensors
A team of APL engineers, working with the Missile Defense Agency and sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), an Aegis baseline 9.C1 equipped destroyer, successfully fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a complex medium-range ballistic missile target, demonstrating the Sea Based Terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability and meeting the test’s primary objective. (Credit: MDA)

Standard Missile-3: The Next Generation

APL led key “end-to-end” system-level performance analysis in collaboration with the government–industry team for the SM-3 Block IIA missile, cooperatively developed by the United States and Japan.
Learn more about Standard Missile-3: The Next Generation
STEREO Spacecrafts and the Sun

STEREO

The Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission has provided 3D views of the solar corona, coronal mass ejections and the solar wind, and advanced space weather forecasting.
Learn more about STEREO
Submarine

Submarine Survivability Program

The SSN/SSGN survivability program ensures our submarines stay hidden regardless of new technology, changing mission requirements, and increasingly sophisticated adversaries.
Learn more about Submarine Survivability Program
SunCET

SunCET

The Sun Coronal Ejection Tracker (SunCET) mission, a sensitive sensor-camera combination set to launch in 2025, seeks to determine what mechanisms accelerate most coronal mass ejections to speeds approaching 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) per second.
Learn more about SunCET
Swarming unmanned surface vehicles

Swarming Uncrewed Surface Vehicles

APL, in collaboration with the Naval Air Warfare Center Port Hueneme Weapons Division, led a swarming uncrewed surface vehicle demonstration of advanced multivehicle autonomy at tactically relevant speeds.
Learn more about Swarming Uncrewed Surface Vehicles
September 18, 2013: An SM-3 Block 1B interceptor is launched from the USS Lake Erie during an MDA test and successfully intercepted a complex short-range ballistic missile target off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. (Credit: MDA)

Test Target Prototyping

A cross-APL team of engineers, working with the Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Target and Countermeasures Directorate and other government and industry partners, develops cost-effective solutions for MDA to support live-fire testing of interceptors, sensors, and fire control systems.
Learn more about Test Target Prototyping
Radar screen (Credit: Bigstock)

Testing Air and Missile Defense Radar

APL teamed with industry and the Above Water Sensors Directorate of Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems on two successful tests of the AN/SPY-6(V), a wideband digital beam-forming sensor known as the Air and Missile Defense Radar.
Learn more about Testing Air and Missile Defense Radar
CubeSat

The CAT Experiment

APL has successfully delivered, flown, and operated two miniaturized satellites, or CubeSats, as part of a Lab-led flight demonstration known as the CubeSat Signal Preprocessor Assessment and Test (CAT).
Learn more about The CAT Experiment
SKA experiment sensor

The SKA Experiment

APL developed and tested the sensors for the Missile Defense Agency’s Spacebased Kill Assessment (SKA) system, currently on orbit and executing planned test events.
Learn more about The SKA Experiment
Health systems

The Systems Approach to Saving Lives

APL’s thought leaders are stirring discussions on the importance of taking a systems approach to health care.
Learn more about The Systems Approach to Saving Lives
TIMED Satellite

TIMED

For nearly two decades, the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission has explored the gateway between Earth and space.
Learn more about TIMED
Autonomous swarming unmanned surface vessels (SUSVs) — equipped with Johns Hopkins APL-developed hardware and autonomy software

Uncrewed Surface Vessel Perception

International regulations for preventing collisions at sea require vessels to operate within certain distances based on the visual identification of other vessels.
Learn more about Uncrewed Surface Vessel Perception
Van Allen Probes floating over earth

Van Allen Probes

A mission to explore Earth’s harsh radiation belt environment and the dynamics of geomagnetic storms.
Learn more about Van Allen Probes
Li-Fi (Credit: Bigstock)

Visible Light Communications

For the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), APL is developing mission concepts and integrating operational prototypes of visible light communications capabilities in the Department of Defense—helping DISA enhance data security and alleviate demands on the limited radio frequency spectrum.
Learn more about Visible Light Communications