Astroscale U.S. Partners with NASA for RPO Testing
A four-week testing campaign, conducted in partnership with Astroscale U.S., leveraged NASA Goddard’s state-of-the-art Servicing Technology Center (STC) for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) validation. The work is carried out under a five-year reimbursable Space Act Agreement (SAA).
Astroscale U.S., in collaboration NASA Goddard, conducted a comprehensive four-week advanced testing campaign at Goddard’s state-of-the-art Servicing Technology Center (STC). This campaign was a series of simulations for critical rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) validation under a five-year reimbursable Space Act Agreement (SAA).
This testing directly supported Astroscale U.S. with its groundbreaking APS-R Mission, a United States Space Force (USSF) contracted initiative that will aim to transform space operations by enabling in-orbit hydrazine transfer and spacecraft refueling, ensuring uninterrupted mission continuity.
Honed through years of testing experience, Goddard’s In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) facilities have the ability to test RPO and interactive dynamic simulations – which is crucial for autonomous capture between two spacecraft in space.
Working with the ISAM facilities at Goddard allows Astroscale U.S. to simulate environments necessary to validate autonomous spacecraft servicing capabilities.
NASA’s Role:
Assisting Astroscale U.S. in Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) testing at the Servicing Technology Center (STC) at Goddard.
NASA’s Key Responsibilities/Technical Contributions:
- Responsible for overall coordination of test campaign in collaboration with Astroscale U.S.
- Integrated Astroscale U.S. hardware on Goddard motion platforms.
- Conducted hardware-in-the-loop testing to translate Astroscale U.S. attitude commands into 6-DOF robotic motion to simulate RPO scenarios.
- Provided independent metrology to confirm vehicle and client positions.
- Integrated safety protocols to safeguard all hardware.
- Provided overall collection of data, including photo, video, motion platform data logs, and truth measurements.