Image Courtesy of UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. CanX-4 and CanX-5 are a pair of identical nanosatellites built by the Space Flight Laboratory, and launched in June 2014.
SFL and DSI demonstrate enabling technology for low-cost asteroid missions and constellations
The world’s first demonstration of autonomous spacecraft maneuvering was recently completed by Silicon Valley-based Deep Space Industries (DSI) and the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) of Toronto, Canada. Using their highly-successful CanX-4 and CanX-5 pair of nanosatellites, SFL operators executed a DSI-defined experiment on-orbit, in which the world’s first spacecraft-to-spacecraft orbit maneuver was commanded by one satellite and executed by the other.
In this experiment, one of the two spacecraft (CanX-4) autonomously programmed the other (CanX-5) to perform an orbit change using its on-board propulsion system, over a shared S-band Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) radio. CanX-5 subsequently executed the maneuver, raising its orbit, as confirmed by operators at SFL’s Mission Control Center (MCC) in Toronto and data from the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
To the best of each organization’s knowledge, this is the first time in history that one satellite has autonomously commanded another to execute propulsive maneuvers, with no operator in the loop.
“This experiment was a key demonstration of a critical capability for multi-spacecraft asteroid missions, as well as constellations of spacecraft in Earth orbit,” said Grant Bonin, DSI’s Chief Engineer. “It was also a first step in demonstrating ship-to-shore command relay in-space, which could potentially reduce the difficulty of communicating with very small spacecraft at long range.”
“The experiment was an important risk reduction exercise for DSI, which intends to use small spacecraft for initial asteroid prospecting missions in the next five years,” Bonin continued. “The ability to relay commands from spacecraft to spacecraft, and perform in-space maneuvers autonomously, without operator intervention, is a critical capability that has major implications for mission-level redundancy—not just for asteroid missions, but also for low-cost Earth orbit constellations. This also shows that, if necessary, we can take the operator entirely out of the loop during a mission, which can translate into significant savings.”
Read more: Deep Space Industries teams with UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory to demonstrate autonomous spacecraft maneuvering – via Deep Space Industries
The Latest on: Nanosatellites
via Google News
The Latest on: Nanosatellites
- LauncherOne reaches orbit on second attempt with NASA CubeSatson January 17, 2021 at 4:32 pm
The air-launched rocket successfully carried ten CubeSats to their target orbit for NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. The cosmic girl aircraft took off at 10:38 PST (18:38 ...
- Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reaches space on 2nd tryon January 17, 2021 at 4:13 pm
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said.
- Virgin Orbit launches rocket off a 747 aircraft, puts nine satellites in spaceon January 17, 2021 at 3:13 pm
A 70-foot rocket, riding beneath the wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747 aircraft, detached from the plane and fired itself into Earth's orbit on Sunday — ...
- Virgin Orbit launches 10 satellites to orbit in landmark test flighton January 17, 2021 at 2:53 pm
LauncherOne has reached orbit for the first time. Virgin Orbit's name isn't purely aspirational anymore. The company's LauncherOne rocket reached orbit today (Jan. 17) on its second powered test ...
- Virgin Orbit launches rocket off a 747 aircrafton January 17, 2021 at 2:50 pm
A 70-foot rocket, riding beneath the wing of a retrofitted Boeing 747 aircraft, detached from the plane and fired itself into Earth's orbit on Sunday — marking the first successful launch for the Cali ...
- Virgin Orbit sends 10 satellites to orbit, building on Paul Allen’s air-launch legacyon January 17, 2021 at 2:05 pm
Virgin Orbit finally lived up to its name today and used an innovative air-launch system to send 10 satellites to orbit.
- Virgin Orbit rocket reaches orbit, but satellite deployment unclearon January 17, 2021 at 1:58 pm
The space experiments are only about a foot long and just a few inches high and wide. Over the past few decades, NASA has launched many similar flights, which it calls Educational Launch of ...
- Rocket maker Ursa Major Technologies raises $15Mon January 13, 2021 at 1:55 pm
Inc., a maker of rockets and propulsion for small satellites, has raised just more than $15 million in its latest round of funding. In filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the ...
- Brunswick rocket-maker tests engine, expects to launch rocket soonon January 6, 2021 at 10:10 am
The rockets are ultimately being developed to carry nanosatellites into suborbital space. Nanosatellites are small satellites weighing up to a couple dozen pounds. Inexpensive to make, they can ...
- Russian universities and scientific organizations approve projects of three nanosatelliteson December 11, 2020 at 8:16 pm
A consortium of Russian universities and scientific organizations to create a constellation of nanosatellites for studying the Earth's ionosphere was set up in 2018 December 8. /TASS/. Members of ...
via Bing News
