AGGIESAT: AUTONOMOUS RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR CURRENT AUTONOMOUS RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKI…

Public award description

AGGIESAT: AUTONOMOUS RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR CURRENT AUTONOMOUS RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING (AR&D) CAPABILITY IN LOW EARTH ORBIT (LEO) IS CONSTRAINED BY SENSOR AND EFFECTOR MASS, POWER, AND ACCURACY LIMITS. TO THIS END, NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER HAS DEVELOPED A GPS RECEIVER, CALLED DRAGON (DUAL RF ASTRODYNAMIC GPS ORBITAL NAVIGATOR), SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS THE SENSOR CONSTRAINTS. THE PROPOSED INNOVATION INCLUDES CREATING A SMALL, LOW-COST, AND VERSATILE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR TO VALIDATE AND INCREASE THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL OF DRAGON AND OTHER STATE-OF-THE-ART MINIATURIZED SENSORS AND EFFECTORS IN AN ON-ORBIT AR&D OPERATIONAL SCENARIO. FOR PHASE 1, A DEMONSTRATION PLATFORM WAS DEVELOPED THAT UTILIZES TWO PICOSATELLITES IN LEO, AND RELATIVE GPS AS THE PRIMARY SENSOR. THESE SATELLITES WERE LAUNCHED AS A SINGLE UNIT FROM THE SSPL (SPACE SHUTTLE PAYLOAD LAUNCHER) ON STS 127, TO SEPARATE AND TRANSMIT DRAGON DATA. THE PICOSATELLITE TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR WAS AT A TRL OF 7 AT THE END OF PHASE 1. FOR PHASE 2, NASA PLANS A SECOND FLIGHT, AND THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES ARE TO FURTHER CHARACTERIZE THE DRAGON RECEIVER AND DEVELOP NAVIGATIONAL SOLUTIONS USING DRAGON DATA. ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGIES ADDRESSED INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SIMPLE LOW-COST, LOW-MASS THREE-AXIS STABILIZATION AND POINTING SYSTEM FOR SMALL SATELLITES, WIMAX TRANSCEIVER CAPABILITIES, AND VIDEO CAMERA CAPABILITIES. THE TECHNOLOGIES SHOULD BE AT A TRL OF 6 AT THE END OF PHASE 2.