Multi-Application Survivable Tether (MAST) Experiment

Space tether technology can provide propellantless propulsion for orbital maneuvering, orbital transfer, and spacecraft formation flying. The MAST (Multi- Application Survivable Tether) experiment team, consisting of Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) and the Stanford University Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL), propose to develop and test space-survivable tether technologies relevant to momentum-exchange tethers, electrodynamic propulsion tether systems, formation flying, and space elevator technologies. Specifically, the MAST team will develop both a very small tether deployer suitable for use on picosatellite experiments and a simple tether crawler/inspector, and use these in a very low-cost CubeSat flight experiment to obtain critical data on the survivability of tethers and other gossamer space technologies in the M/OD environment. In the Phase I effort, we will design and build breadboard prototypes of these picosatellite tether systems. In the Phase II effort, we will conduct a flight experiment on the CubeSat platform, obtaining critical data on space tether survivability and the dynamics of tethered spacecraft formations.