Software designed to give spacecraft more autonomy could support a future where swarms of satellites navigate and complete scientific objectives with limited human intervention. Astronauts living and working on the Moon and Mars will rely on satellites to provide services like navigation, weather, and communications relays. While managing complex missions, automating satellite communications will allow … Read more
NASA has released a new proposal opportunity for industry to tap into agency know-how, resources, and expertise. The Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO), managed by the Space Technology Mission Directorate, enables valuable collaboration without financial exchanges between NASA and industry partners. Instead, companies leverage NASA subject matter experts, facilities, software, and hardware to accelerate their … Read more
As missions to low Earth orbit become more frequent, space traffic coordination remains a key element to efficiently operating in space. Different satellite operators using autonomous systems need to operate together and manage increasing workloads. NASA’s Starling spacecraft swarm recently tested a coordination with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, demonstrating a potential solution to enhance space traffic … Read more
Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Bohdan Wesely, right, and Eli Hiss, left, complete a fit check of the two halves of a space capsule that will study the clouds of Venus for signs of life. Led by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, and their partners at the Massachusetts Institute … Read more
NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley invites media to learn more about Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), a technology that allows individual spacecraft to make independent decisions while collaborating with each other to achieve common goals – without human input. The DSA team achieved multiple firsts during tests of such swarm technology as part of … Read more
Talk amongst yourselves, get on the same page, and work together to get the job done! This “pep talk” roughly describes how new NASA technology works within satellite swarms. This technology, called Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), allows individual spacecraft to make independent decisions while collaborating with each other to achieve common goals – all without … Read more
The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, which launched in April 2024, and deployed its reflective sail in August, is currently orbiting approximately 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) above Earth and is frequently visible in the night sky to observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Fans of the spacecraft can look for the sail in the night sky using … Read more
NASA is advancing an innovative approach to enabling commercial inspection of defunct, or inoperable, satellites in low Earth orbit, a precursor to capturing and repairing or removing the satellites. The agency has awarded Starfish Space of Seattle, Washington, a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to complete the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection … Read more
Now that its reflective sail has deployed fully open in orbit, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System can be seen in the night sky from many locations across the world! Stargazers can join NASA’s #SpotTheSail campaign by using the NASA app on mobile platforms to find out when the spacecraft will be visible at their location. The app, … Read more
After ten months in orbit, the Starling spacecraft swarm successfully demonstrated its primary mission’s key objectives, representing significant achievements in the capability of swarm configurations. Swarms of satellites may one day be used in deep space exploration. An autonomous network of spacecraft could self-navigate, manage scientific experiments, and execute maneuvers to respond to environmental changes … Read more