ASSET Powers the Future of Physics-Based Data Simulation: Wins 2025 NTSA M&S Award

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  • By SSC Public Affairs
A graduate student thesis project has transformed into a vital national asset. The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Tools, Applications, and Processing (TAP) Lab have matured the AFIT Sensor and Scene Emulation Tool (ASSET). This cutting-edge modeling and simulation capability is now a cornerstone for accelerating innovation, saving taxpayer dollars, expediting tech delivery and bolstering mission readiness for missile warning and space surveillance. This powerful collaboration showcases how joint research, and strategic development can produce game-changing solutions for our nation's defense as well as game-changing modeling and simulation capability that is accelerating innovation across the Department of War (DoW).

What began as a model to support graduate student thesis research is now the AFIT ASSET, a vital national resource for space-based surveillance, missile warning detection, and next-generation sensing, saving money, accelerating delivery timelines, and improving mission readiness.

“Driven by demand from programs across the nation, ASSET’s popularity has been seen in the rising need for scalable, physics-based, synthetic data generation tools that can keep pace with today’s emerging space threats,” said Dr. Bryan Steward, chief scientist at the SSC OPIR TAP Lab. “In both scope and scale, ASSET has matured from an academic concept into an enterprise-grade capability—one that continues to expand in reach, relevance, and results.”

Initially conceived and developed as an academic research tool, ASSET has undergone continuous development and transformation over the past several years.

“ASSET originated as a model used to support student research in 2015,” said Steward. “The goal was to create a sensor simulation tool that meets a broader need for realistic, physics-based simulated sensor data, specifically geared towards OPIR.”  

Today, ASSET is a government-owned, high-fidelity, physics-based image-chain model capable of generating realistic electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) data. Its value lies in its ability to simulate complete mission scenarios, capturing artifacts and imperfections that mirror the real world, while generating data-at-scale.

“In other words, it uses real-world physics to create very realistic but simulated images that look exactly like what a camera would capture in the visible spectrum, including any realistic flaws or blur,” said Steward.

From a basic simulator to a fully customizable image-chain model, ASSET now supports dynamic whole-Earth modeling, multi-sensor architecture, and advanced target and background generation. Its rapid expansion reflects both a growing user base and a growing mission set.

“ASSET is a highly advanced program that can enable the customization of realistic images to simulate data users may want to train or test on. This includes how scenes and sensors change over time. ASSET can also mimic what multiple different types of cameras and sensors would observe all at once. ASSET performs an array of capability, but where it excels is truly tied to its ability to generate incredibly realistic objects within their surroundings. This research and development effort enables the United States’s Industrial Mission Partners to test and train on ASSET, further bolstering the warfighter’s competitive advantage. For example, it facilitates missile tracking, testing satellite sensor designs for improved hyper sonics detection, training smart computer programs like artificial intelligence to understand data, all in support of building the ground control systems that manage space operations.”

The ASSET Team
ASSET’s development is led by a dedicated core team at AFIT consisting of government civilians, defense contractors, graduate students, and Air and Space Force cadet interns. It is principally supported by SSC, with contributions from other government agencies and organizations. 

While partnerships and use-cases continue to scale, ASSET maintains its roots in academia. Overseen part-time by its original creators and former AFIT faculty, it now supports the research of the next generation of AFIT graduate students.

“Partnerships have been central to the program’s success,” said Stephen Hinton, ASSET team lead. “These partnerships help ensure ASSET remains aligned with real-world mission requirements while continuing to grow in capability. What began as a small group of researchers and developers has expanded into a cross-functional team that brings together government expertise, industry know-how, and academic insight. The current team continues to grow in both numbers and expertise, supporting an increasing number of users, use-cases, and interagency partnerships.”

Next Gen Data
Modern defense missions require more than hardware—they demand data. Specifically, large volumes of high-fidelity data to support machine learning, test algorithms, validate performance, and drive decisions. Real-world data is often limited, especially for next-generation or future threats. ASSET addresses this by generating synthetic data with known truths.

ASSET directly supports SSC programs such as:

 
  • Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE)
  • Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)
  • Wide Field of View (WFOV) ground systems
  • Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking Medium Earth Orbit Epoch 2
  • Next-Gen OPIR constellation assessments
     
“ASSET has also become the principal Modeling and Simulation tool for SSC’s TAP Lab and is essential to the OPIR Modeling and Simulation Analysis Center (OMAC). Creating realistic infrared scenes with accurate background statistics is an essential step in the development and evaluation of new satellite system designs. ASSET is enabling OMAC's transition from obsolete government-owned scene codes to modern models with comprehensive sensor and phenomenology features.  ASSET plays a vital role in System Delta 84’s performance modeling of next generation OPIR sensors.” said Dr. Kristen Lemke, Space Dynamics Lab team technical lead for OMAC.

ASSET empowers decision-making at every level of development—from early research and development to final system evaluation. By offering a configurable, government-owned simulation tool, ASSET reduces the need for programs to develop expensive proprietary models.
Steward said developers with access to classified data still report using ASSET for up to 90 percent of their work—underscoring its value even in high-security environments.

“ASSET offers both unclassified and usable data by cleared and uncleared developers,” he said.

For uncleared developers, ASSET’s unclassified outputs allow algorithm development to move forward without waiting for access to sensitive datasets. Its ability to generate unlimited, testable data shortens development cycles, reduces risk, and supports smarter acquisition across the enterprise.


One notable example is ASSET’s contribution to WFOV ground processing application development. By generating realistic WFOV synthetic data prior to the sensor’s launch in 2022, ASSET enabled developers to build, tune, and refine mission data processing applications even before receiving real data. Once Space Force Guardians received real on-orbit data, only minimal adjustments were needed—accelerating mission data processing by more than six months.

“The ASSET team has not only built a powerful simulation tool—they’ve laid the foundation for continued exponential growth. With every new user, every new sensor modeled, and every new threat simulated, ASSET becomes more valuable. As threats become more complex and the need for scalable data solutions grows, the ASSET team is poised to play an even greater role in how the DoW tests, trains, and transitions critical capabilities. Its story—rooted in academic curiosity and driven by operational necessity—is a model for how technical innovation can directly support warfighter efforts,” said Steward.

The team’s effort was noted as they received this year’s Training and Simulation Team Award from the National Training & Simulation Association at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference on Dec. 2, 2025.

 

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