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Edinburgh / Lafayette, Colorado, 18 October 2022. – Software-as-a-service provider Kayhan Space, along with partners Astroscale US and the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), has won a US Space Force award to develop an intelligent platform that autonomously enables spacecraft to safely engage with on-orbit support vehicles for services such as refueling, maintenance, debris removal and national security, Kayhan Space said.
SpaceWERX selected Kayhan Space for a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 1. The phase is expected to investigate how Kayhan’s Proxima solution (RPO) can enable in-space service assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities. These are currently being researched by the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) through the Orbital Prime program. Orbital Prime aims to promote active debris remediation.
During the project, Kayhan Space will collaborate with Astroscale engineers as well as UT-Austin spaceflight researchers and students. The collaboration will end with the delivery of an optimized RPO management solution supporting secure space commerce and national security. The feasibility study of the management platform is planned for early 2023, with a prototype and Phase 2 demonstration in 2024.
The autonomous RPO (Rendezvous Proximity Operations) offering, Kayhan Proxima will aid close proximity maneuvers in congested orbits. PRO missions are planned to be safe and autonomous with minimal manual support.
