Space tech startup Rhea Space Activity adapts navigation software for military use under US Space Force contract, drawing attention to a long-standing vulnerability in satellite operations: dependence on GPS.
The company became one of 10 firms, selected last year by the SpaceWERX organization of the US Space Force as part of the Sustained Space Maneuver Challenge – open competition, designed to accelerate the development of technologies, which improve the mobility and stability of satellites. Efforts are focused on working in hostile orbital environments, where US spacecraft may face threats from space debris to anti-satellite weapons.
Each firm received a Small Business Innovation Research “Direct to Phase 2” contract worth approx 1,9 a million dollars. These 15-month awards, funded by the US Space Command and executed by SpaceWERX, aim to turn promising concepts into more mature prototypes, adapted to the operational needs of the military.
As part of its contract, Rhea Space Activity is developing autonomous navigation software in a project called Vanguard – short for Vision-based Autonomous Navigation and Guidance for Unassisted Approach, Rendezvous and Deployment (Autonomous visual navigation and control for independent approach, meetings and deployments). The work is based on the AutoNav software complex, which was originally developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), to allow spacecraft to determine their position and trajectory without constant control from Earth.
Control engineer, of navigation and control of rocket systems at Rhea Space Activity and principal investigator of the Vanguard project, noted, that the company saw an obvious military application for this technology. AutoNav allows the spacecraft to navigate using onboard sensors – usually optical cameras – to observe known objects in space. Real-time software processes these images, compares them with stored ephemeris and star catalogs and calculates, where exactly the device is and where it is going. After that, it can update the on-board navigation solution, and in some cases autonomously plan or adjust maneuvers. The software has been commercialized for the private sector and is currently owned by Rhea Space Activity. The Vanguard project extends AutoNav capabilities, adding support for autonomous approach operations and close proximity operations (RPO) in Earth orbit.
RPO – is a class of space operations, during which one vehicle deliberately approaches and maneuvers near another object, sometimes close enough, to conduct a review or interaction. Such operations are technically very complex, require precise navigation, constant situational awareness and careful control, to avoid collisions. Such capabilities are critical for military and reconnaissance missions, related to the inspection or characterization of objects in orbit, especially in the conditions, when GPS is not available, and communication delays limit the ability to rely on real-time commands from Earth. AutoNav combined with a camera and on-board computer can provide navigation and control without GPS, photographing the sky and matching stars and moons to known positions, stored in the US Space Force Unified Database.
Source: https://spacenews.com