NASA’s Starling mission is advancing the readiness of technologies for cooperative groups of space craft referred to as swarms. The Starling swarm of four 6U spacecraft launched in July 2023, and is completing its tests in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) of four key technologies that will enable future swarm missions: onboard maneuver planning and execution to adjust the swarm formation; establishing and maintaining an adhoc network in space; relative and absolute orbit determination using optical sensors; autonomous collaboration between spacecraft for establishing and conducting a science observation plan. A mission extension is also being prepared to demonstrate a space traffic management architecture to address the large and rapidly growing number of space craft in LEO. In this presentation, the objectives of the Starling mission and its extension will be reviewed along with the latest status and mission outcomes. The presentation will also look at the revolutionary potential for swarms in future science and exploration missions and the impact to operations.


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    Title :

    Starling Swarm Mission – Technology Objectives, Status and Future Applications


    Contributors:
    R. Grashuis (author) / H. Cannon (author)

    Publication date :

    2024


    Size :

    11 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English