Engineering Space is an in-depth documentary series that unveils the new generation of space technologies and the people and companies developing them. Engineers and entrepreneurs are democratizing access to space. Our goal is to enable you to understand the cutting-edge, be inspired, and discover practical insights to apply to your own engineering endeavors.In the first episode of Engineering Space we meet two engineers from Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic; Principal Mechanical Engineer Kerry Quinn and Lead Software Engineer Taylor Whitaker. The space company aims to make space missions feasible and more affordable for science, exploration, and commerce. They define themselves as a lunar logistics company, intending to provide end-to-end delivery services for payloads to the Moon.Astrobotic works out of the largest private facility in the world dedicated to lunar logistics. In this impressive 47,000-square-foot complex, The company builds and operates its lines of landers, rovers, autonomous spacecraft navigation systems, and other space technologies. Once operational, payloads will be controlled directly from the Astrobotic Mission Control Center inside their headquarters located in the heart of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s North Side.<h2 dir="ltr">Developing lightweight moon rovers</h2>The team is developing two rovers specifically for Moon exploration. The CubeRover&reg; is a super-light modular vehicle designed to provide affordable mobility for scientific instruments and other payloads to operate on the surface of the Moon. Because CubeRover&reg; can be as light as just four kilograms &mdash; it can contribute to reduced flight costs, making the Moon more accessible. &nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjgzNjIzNTg3MTUwLVJvdmVyMi5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The Astrorobotics CubeRover&reg;. Image credit: Astrobotics.The Polaris rover was designed to accommodate diverse lunar payloads with distinct mission profiles, like lunar regolith digging or water ice harvesting. Polaris can support up to 90 kg of payload mass, traverse long distances, and provide direct-to-Earth (DTE) communication. Companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals can send payloads to the Moon on Polaris for $4.5M per kilogram of payload. For every kilogram of payload, Astrobotic can provide 0.5 W of continuous power and 10 kbps of bandwidth.In this episode of Engineering Space, we follow along with Astrobotic engineers as they do mobility testing on the engineering model of their CubeRover&reg;. It&#39;s the first time the team has tested the rover with its MLI (Multilayer Insulation) and electronics package. The testing will compare the engineering model with other models in development.&nbsp;<h2 dir="ltr">Mimicking the Moon&#39;s surface</h2>Testing rovers intended for the moon requires the careful creation of an environment that resembles the moon&#39;s surface as closely as possible. The tests are conducted in their test pit of lunar regolith, a material that mimics the fine powdery material covering the moon. Almost all of the moon&#39;s surface is covered in this fine, white powdery material, with only small areas of hard bedrock on the walls of very steep moon craters.&nbsp;Regolith materials are developed by NASA or other space companies. For example, the majority of the regolith used in the Astrobotic testing is made by the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/home/index.html" target="_blank">Glenn Research Center</a>. The regolith, known as GRC-1[1] is made from four kinds of quartz silica.&nbsp;Lunar regolith has compactibility properties[2], which means when it is agitated, it dilates or becomes lower in volume as the small particles fall between the larger particles. You can imagine this clearly by thinking of a container of flour that compacts when you tap it on a table. This is also how the iconic astronaut footprints were formed on the Moon.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjgzNjIyMzQwNzUzLTEwLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The rover prototype during testing in the lunar regolith material.This quality of the regolith means that the lightweight rovers developed by Astrobotic are expected to sink down slightly when they are on the moon, rather than moving across its surface like a small rover would on sand on Earth.&nbsp;To mimic the moon without simulating in zero gravity, super lightweight versions of the rovers are developed that account for the difference in gravitational acceleration. Lunar gravitational acceleration is 1.62 m/s^2 (meters per second squared) while Earth&rsquo;s gravitational acceleration is 9.807 m/s^2 (meters per second squared). &nbsp;The moon rover weighs about 6 kg, so the testing version weighs just 1 kg.&nbsp;<h2 dir="ltr">Design of a lunar rover wheel that sinks and turns&nbsp;</h2>The moon surface tests enable the Astrobotic engineering team to look at each aspect of the rover, including its grip on the lunar regolith and the way it traverses different types of terrain, such as flat, ascents, and descents.&nbsp;A really critical part of the rover is the design of its wheels. They must be lightweight, robust to the extreme temperatures of the moon as well as suitable for the fine, flour-like conditions of the lunar surface. The Astrobotic rover has been tested with multiple types of wheels, sizes, widths, and materials.The current design of the wheel is fairly narrow, with regular perforations and grousers (protrusions similar to those on a tank) that allow the rover to move through the powdery surface. This design also enables the rover to complete movements such as figure-eights without the rover having a complex drive system such as articulated directional steering that would add extra weight.&nbsp;The engineering model of the rover being tested is reserved for special testing as it&#39;s the closest prototype to the finished product. To protect the high-value prototype, simultaneous testing happens on other simpler versions of the rover. These tests are often specific to a single task such as hill climbing.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjgzNjIyMzgzODgzLTUuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The perforations and trousers enable the rover to navigate the soft terrain.&nbsp;<h2 dir="ltr">A mission to make the moon accessible</h2>Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and currently has more than 130 employees. It has won several large contracts from NASA and has critical missions with the space agency planned. In addition to the rovers described above, Astrobotic has developed moon landers, a moon power grid, and vision technology.&nbsp;The company&#39;s first mission is set to be the first commercial mission to land on another planetary body. The Peregrine Rover will land on the Gruithuisen Domes of the moon and deliver a range of scientific instruments, technologies, mementos, and other payloads from six different countries, dozens of science teams, and hundreds of individuals. The date of the mission will be announced shortly.&nbsp;In 2024, Astrobotic will undertake the Griffin Mission One (GM1) &nbsp;to the Lunar South Pole. It will deliver NASA&rsquo;s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER). Griffin will land at the South Pole and deploy VIPER to conduct the first widespread ground truth measurements of lunar water ice. Such ice may one day be used for life support and propellant that could assist future deep space explorers. Some of the instruments on PM1 will be operated as a dress rehearsal for their use on VIPER. This GM1 contract was awarded under the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services" target="_blank">NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services &nbsp;(CLPS) &nbsp;initiative.&nbsp;</a><h2 dir="ltr">Learn more about cutting-edge space companies and technologies</h2>The Engineering Space documenatry series is a collaboration between engineering community platform Wevolver, and two independent Californian filmmakers and producers; <a href="https://flipbirdfilms.com/" target="_blank">Flipbird Films</a> and Green Run Productions. This first episode is sponsored by <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/duro" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Duro</a>, which develops Product Lifecycle Management software for hardware engineering teams.<blockquote><blockquote>Having previously worked at SpaceX, I know how tough it can be to create technology that can withstand the harsh environment of space. We&#39;re proud to sponsor this Engineering Space episode and help inspire engineers everywhere!</blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Kellan O&#39;Connor, COO and Co-founder of Duro </blockquote></blockquote>Sign up below to get updates when a new &#39;Engineering Space&#39; episode gets released!<iframe src="https://c8056756.sibforms.com/serve/MUIEALrRLDzuUm9n0ZOf8rXFzimkYs9rS_nCzav7CGHGM8USNRBoKa4J5jwLh7jPqbBt7DQ-iIzGhsx_wFSBXNb4KPhpppkyJ93mD2PZJvl1pMCE9zXvsMc7hBtlPYgaIBDpec1zdrmpcCW6xuqC94Suy4YcAasZMu8t7DxX1EoakY6Xqdk8WBelkzJyrbq88OKqzHv_8A0UDOlT" scrolling="auto" allowfullscreen="" style="display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;max-width: 100%;" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" width="540" height="305" frameborder="0"></iframe> <h2 dir="ltr">References</h2>1. Oravec HA, Zeng X, Asnani VM. Design and characterization of GRC-1: A soil for Lunar Terramechanics testing in earth-ambient conditions [Internet]. Pergamon; 2010 [cited 2023 May 9]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022489810000388&nbsp;2. Oravec HA, Zeng X, Asnani VM. Design and characterization of GRC-1: A soil for Lunar Terramechanics testing in earth-ambient conditions [Internet]. Pergamon; 2010 [cited 2023 May 9]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022489810000388

Space startup Astrobotic mimics the moon's surface material and tests various designs of new moon rovers.

Engineering Space. Episode 1: Developing lightweight rovers for lunar surface exploration

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an important step on a very long road,&rdquo; says Adrian Glauser, a senior scientist at the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich. In late March, he and Sascha Quanz, a professor of astrophysics at ETH Zurich and head of the Exoplanets and Habitability Group, learned that the Swiss government will contribute nearly three million euros to support the NICE project as part of PRODEX (PROgramme de D&eacute;veloppement d&rsquo;EXp&eacute;riences scientifiques), a European Space Agency (ESA) programme. This funding will enable ETH researchers to develop important technological foundations that are indispensable to realising the ambitious LIFE space mission.<h2>The hunt for traces of life</h2>The LIFE (Large Interferometer for Exoplanets) initiative is aimed at undertaking a more detailed study of Earth-like exoplanets &ndash; planets that are similar to Earth in size and temperature but orbit other stars. It will focus particularly on planetary systems within a distance of up to 65 light years from our solar system. The plan is to position five smaller satellites at L2, the Lagrange point that is home to the James Webb Space Telescope. Together, these satellites will form a large telescope that will act as an interferometer to pick up the exoplanets&rsquo; infrared thermal radiation. The spectrum of the light can then be used to deduce the composition of those exoplanets and their atmospheres. &ldquo;Our goal is to detect chemical compounds in the light spectrum that hint at life on these exoplanets. Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere, for example, contains oxygen and methane produced by biological activity,&rdquo; explains Quanz, who leads the LIFE initiative.ESA has made the mission a high priority &ndash; LIFE is considered a candidate for a future major ESA science mission. However, today&rsquo;s futuristic images showing how the five satellites will operate in space must not obscure the fact that the project relies on a major feat of technology and that many questions remain unanswered. One key question, for instance, is whether the measurements can even be carried out in the way the researchers have in mind.<h2>Precision measurement instruments</h2>The main problem in exoplanet research is that the much brighter light from the host star makes it difficult to detect the faint light its exoplanets reflect or emit. &ldquo;The instruments have to be able to see the light of a firefly that&rsquo;s next to a lighthouse 4,000 kilometres away,&rdquo; Glauser says, explaining the demands on the measuring instruments.Since it isn&rsquo;t possible to mechanically block out the host star when using the LIFE telescope, the researchers plan to use what is known as nulling interferometry to eliminate this source of interference. For this, the light that the individual satellites pick up from the host star is phase shifted combined in a way that it effectively cancels it out. The light from the exoplanet, on the other hand, which hits the satellites coming from a slightly different angle from the plane of the sky, is not cancelled out by this superposition. This makes it possible to see the faint objects next to the bright star &ndash; which is the first step towards detecting any clues of chemical compounds in their atmospheres.<h2>Technology suitable for space</h2>Planetary researchers have already demonstrated in earlier experiments that nulling interferometry generally works in the infrared range. The question now is whether this measurement principle can also be used for faint Earth-like planets. &ldquo;To ensure that ambient heat doesn&rsquo;t interfere with the already weak infrared signals, we have to carry out the measurements under the extremely cold conditions that prevail at Lagrange point L2,&rdquo; Glauser explains.In NICE, the Nulling Interferometer Cryogenic Experiment, the measurement apparatus is placed in a so-called cryostat that is cooled to a temperature of &minus;260&deg;C. Here, too, there are a few fundamental questions that need to be answered: How can the instrument in the cryostat be adjusted to nanometre precision from the outside for optimum suppression of the simulated starlight? And what materials are suitable for this? &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be working on this project with industry partners who have experience with space technologies,&rdquo; Glauser says. &ldquo;Our goal with this experiment is to develop a measurement method that can then later also be used in space.&rdquo; This brings the realisation of the LIFE mission and the search for life beyond Earth a big step closer.

The LIFE mission’s five satellites are connected to form a large space telescope. (Illustration: ETH Zurich / Life Initiative)

With a constellation of five satellites, the international LIFE initiative led by ETH Zurich hopes to one day detect traces of life on exoplanets. A laboratory experiment in the Department of Physics is now set to demonstrate the planned measurement method.

A key experiment for the LIFE space mission

COWVR, at center, and TEMPEST, not shown, were installed aboard the International Space Station in late 2021 and since then have provided valuable weather data to forecasters tracking tropical cyclones. The two instruments are part of the U.S. Space Force STP-H8 demonstration mission. Credit: NASA

In this episode, we talk about a new satellite system from NASA that leverages technologies used in other missions to accomplish the same performance that has been delivered by heritage satellites but smaller and less complex while also being a fraction of the cost.

Podcast: Eye of The Storm: NASA's New Weather & Tropical Storm Tracking Sensors

In places across the U.S., tree cover is shrinking &ndash; forests are burned by wildfires on the West Coast and drowned by rising sea levels along the East. From the ground, it&rsquo;s hard to assess the scale of the losses and the effects disappearing trees have on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and climate change.NASA research scientist Jon Ranson is working to improve new technologies for studying trees from above, so future Earth-observing missions can more accurately assess forest health.&ldquo;Trees do a huge service for the planet, in terms of sequestering carbon dioxide, taking it out of the atmosphere and putting it into wood,&rdquo; Ranson said, &ldquo;but trees are very sensitive to our changing climate. We&rsquo;re trying to see the changes going on in forest ecosystems. If you detect things early enough, you might be able to do something about it.&rdquo;When measured from aircraft and satellites, the wavelengths of light reflected by plants tell scientists about the amount of photosynthesis occurring, and therefore how much atmospheric carbon dioxide trees take up and store. The current standard for studying vegetation is called NDVI, or Normalized Differential Vegetation Index, which is the average of two broad portions of the infrared spectrum. NASA&rsquo;s NDVI record goes back 40 years, providing a low-resolution but accurate picture of forest health.While NDVI is good at assessing vegetation quantity and vigor broadly, Ranson said, breaking down infrared and visible light into many more wavelengths, a technology called hyperspectral imaging, can provide insight on plants&rsquo; water content, chlorophyll and even changes in health. &nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1679491783339-mlbs_landscape2+%281%29.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In the Mountain Lake region near Blacksburg, VA, a National Ecological Observatory Network tower contains CO2 sensors that can help validate measurements taken by aircraft or satellites. Credits: Courtesy Jon Ranson&ldquo;Vegetation has these broad spectral properties,&rdquo; said Ian Adams, Earth Sciences Division Technologist at NASA&rsquo;s Goddard Space Flight Center. &ldquo;With hyperspectral imaging, you get lots of different measurements at smaller, closer together frequencies. There is a lot more information we can pull out if we can get better spectral resolution.&rdquo;By dramatically increasing the number of frequencies available for researchers to study, Ranson&rsquo;s work serves the priorities of the National Academies of Science&rsquo;s most recent Earth Science decadal survey, which determines the field&rsquo;s long-term priorities. The survey lists &ldquo;surface topography and vegetation,&rdquo; including forests, as a key area of study in need of more advanced technology.&nbsp;&ldquo;Strategically for NASA, and more broadly for the remote sensing community, hyperspectral is one of the areas we see as the future,&rdquo; Adams said.To make use of hyperspectral imaging by future orbital missions, data analysis techniques are first proven closer to the ground.Ranson&rsquo;s team fitted a Skyfish drone (UAV) from partner institution Virginia Tech with a visible and infrared (VIS/IR) hyperspectral camera and lidar equipment. They flew the imaging equipment over forests near Blacksburg, VA, in a region called Mountain Lake. Comparing their UAV observations with actual CO2 levels recorded by sensors on a nearby National Ecological Observatory Network tower, Ranson&rsquo;s team was able to refine calculations about how much carbon the forest removed from the atmosphere.These comparisons allowed them to further refine techniques for interpreting the hyperspectral data. For instance, Plants stressed by too much sunlight may release pigments to shield their chloroplasts, a condition his sensors can detect. If plants get too much shade, they may grow leaves with larger surface-areas, which can cause the sensor to overestimate plant productivity. Ranson wants to add short-wave infrared sensors to better distinguish reflections from leaves and other parts of plants, eliminating another possible source of error.<h2>The view from space: Seeing the forest for the trees</h2>Ranson&rsquo;s goal is to study forests on a global scale from space.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to get the complete picture,&rdquo; Ranson said. &ldquo;So that when we go to space, we know how to find the answer to the question, &lsquo;Are our forests healthy? And if not, why not?&rsquo;&rdquo;Scientists and engineers at Goddard have been developing a mission concept called Concurrent Artificially intelligent Spectrometry and Adaptive Lidar System, or CASALS. If selected, CASALS would send a satellite with lidar and hyperspectral cameras into space. A constellation of such satellites could take the frequent measurements necessary to assess changes in forest productivity over time, using models perfected by Ranson&rsquo;s UAV flights.&ldquo;Forests take up as much carbon as the ocean does, yet forests cover only 9 percent of Earth&rsquo;s surface,&rdquo; said Ranson. &ldquo;So, if something goes wrong with our forests, it&rsquo;s a dramatic issue. We&rsquo;ve got this great, great resource in forests, and we need to care for them so they&rsquo;ll care for us.&rdquo;

In places across the U.S., tree cover is shrinking – forests are burned by wildfires on the West Coast and drowned by rising sea levels along the East. From the ground, it’s hard to assess the scale of the losses and the effects disappearing trees have on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and climate change.

NASA To Measure Forest Health from Above

This article was first published on&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/mixed-robot-kit-lunar-exploration-0314" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>. &nbsp;<hr>When astronauts begin to build a permanent base on the moon, as NASA plans to do in the coming years, they&rsquo;ll need help. Robots could potentially do the heavy lifting by laying cables, deploying solar panels, erecting communications towers, and building habitats. But if each robot is designed for a specific action or task, a moon base could become overrun by a zoo of machines, each with its own unique parts and protocols.To avoid a bottleneck of bots, a team of MIT engineers is designing a kit of universal robotic parts that an astronaut could easily mix and match to rapidly configure different robot &ldquo;species&rdquo; to fit various missions on the moon. Once a mission is completed, a robot can be disassembled and its parts used to configure a new robot to meet a different task.The team calls the system WORMS, for the Walking Oligomeric Robotic Mobility System. The system&rsquo;s parts include worm-inspired robotic limbs that an astronaut can easily snap onto a base, and that work together as a walking robot. Depending on the mission, parts can be configured to build, for instance, large &ldquo;pack&rdquo; bots capable of carrying heavy solar panels up a hill. The same parts could be reconfigured into six-legged spider bots that can be lowered into a lava tube to drill for frozen water.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1678966799776-maxresdefault.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;You could imagine a shed on the moon with shelves of worms,&rdquo; says team leader George Lordos, a PhD candidate and graduate instructor in MIT&rsquo;s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), in reference to the independent, articulated robots that carry their own motors, sensors, computer, and battery. &ldquo;Astronauts could go into the shed, pick the worms they need, along with the right shoes, body, sensors and tools, and they could snap everything together, then disassemble it to make a new one. The design is flexible, sustainable, and cost-effective.&rdquo;Lordos&rsquo; team has built and demonstrated a six-legged WORMS robot. Last week, they presented their results at IEEE&rsquo;s Aerospace Conference, where they also received the conference&rsquo;s Best Paper Award.MIT team members include Michael J. Brown, Kir Latyshev, Aileen Liao, Sharmi Shah, Cesar Meza, Brooke Bensche, Cynthia Cao, Yang Chen, Alex S. Miller, Aditya Mehrotra, Jacob Rodriguez, Anna Mokkapati, Tomas Cantu, Katherina Sapozhnikov, Jessica Rutledge, David Trumper, Sangbae Kim, Olivier de Weck, Jeffrey Hoffman, along with Aleks Siemenn, Cormac O&rsquo;Neill, Diego Rivero, Fiona Lin, Hanfei Cui, Isabella Golemme, John Zhang, Jolie Bercow, Prajwal Mahesh, Stephanie Howe, Fatema Zaman, Steven Reyes, and Zeyad Al Awwad, as well as Chiara Rissola of Carnegie Mellon University and Wendell Chun of the University of Denver.Animal instinctsWORMS was conceived in 2022 as an answer to NASA&rsquo;s Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge &mdash; an annual competition for university students to design, develop, and demonstrate a game-changing idea. In 2022, NASA challenged students to develop robotic systems that can move across extreme terrain, without the use of wheels.A team from MIT&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="http://spaceresources.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Space Resources Workshop</a> <a href="https://aeroastro.mit.edu/news-impact/mits-reconfigurable-robot-wins-best-technical-paper-at-nasas-big-idea-challenge-forum/" target="_blank">took up the challenge</a>, aiming specifically for a lunar robot design that could navigate the extreme terrain of the moon&rsquo;s South Pole &mdash; a landscape that is marked by thick, fluffy dust; steep, rocky slopes; and deep lava tubes. The environment also hosts &ldquo;permanently shadowed&rdquo; regions that could contain frozen water, which, if accessible, would be essential for sustaining astronauts.As they mulled over ways to navigate the moon&rsquo;s polar terrain, the students took inspiration from animals. In their initial brainstorming, they noted certain animals could conceptually be suited to certain missions: A spider could drop down and explore a lava tube, a line of elephants could carry heavy equipment while supporting each other down a steep slope, and a goat, tethered to an ox, could help lead the larger animal up the side of a hill as it transports an array of solar panels.&ldquo;As we were thinking of these animal inspirations, we realized that one of the simplest animals, the worm, makes similar movements as an arm, or a leg, or a backbone, or a tail,&rdquo; says deputy team leader and AeroAstro graduate student Michael Brown. &ldquo;And then the lightbulb went off: We could build all these animal-inspired robots using worm-like appendages.&rsquo;&rdquo;Snap on, snap offLordos, who is of Greek descent, helped coin WORMS, and chose the letter &ldquo;O&rdquo; to stand for &ldquo;oligomeric,&rdquo; which in Greek signifies &ldquo;a few parts.&rdquo;&ldquo;Our idea was that, with just a few parts, combined in different ways, you could mix and match and get all these different robots,&rdquo; says AeroAstro undergraduate Brooke Bensche.The system&rsquo;s main parts include the appendage, or worm, which can be attached to a body, or chassis, via a &ldquo;universal interface block&rdquo; that snaps the two parts together through a twist-and-lock mechanism. The parts can be disconnected with a small tool that releases the block&rsquo;s spring-loaded pins.Appendages and bodies can also snap into accessories such as a &ldquo;shoe,&rdquo; which the team engineered in the shape of a wok, and a LiDAR system that can map the surroundings to help a robot navigate.&ldquo;In future iterations we hope to add more snap-on sensors and tools, such as winches, balance sensors, and drills,&rdquo; says AeroAstro undergraduate Jacob Rodriguez.The team developed software that can be tailored to coordinate multiple appendages. As a proof of concept, the team built a six-legged robot about the size of a go-cart. In the lab, they showed that once assembled, the robot&rsquo;s independent limbs worked to walk over level ground. The team also showed that they could quickly assemble and disassemble the robot in the field, on a desert site in California.In its first generation, each WORMS appendage measures about 1 meter long and weighs about 20 pounds. In the moon&rsquo;s gravity, which is about one-sixth that of Earth&rsquo;s, each limb would weigh about 3 pounds, which an astronaut could easily handle to build or disassemble a robot in the field. The team has planned out the specs for a larger generation with longer and slightly heavier appendages. These bigger parts could be snapped together to build &ldquo;pack&rdquo; bots, capable of transporting heavy payloads.&ldquo;There are many buzz words that are used to describe effective systems for future space exploration: modular, reconfigurable, adaptable, flexible, cross-cutting, et cetera,&rdquo; says Kevin Kempton, an engineer at NASA&rsquo;s Langley Research Center, who served as a judge for the 2022 BIG Idea Challenge. &ldquo;The MIT WORMS concept incorporates all these qualities and more.&rdquo;This research was supported, in part, by NASA, MIT, the Massachusetts Space Grant, the National Science Foundation, and the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation.<hr>&quot;Reprinted with permission of&nbsp;<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2023/mixed-robot-kit-lunar-exploration-0314" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MIT News</a>&quot; &nbsp;

A team of MIT engineers is designing a kit of universal robotic parts that an astronaut could easily mix and match to build different robot “species” to fit various missions on the moon. Credit: hexapod image courtesy of the researchers, edited by MIT News

Robotic parts could be assembled into nimble spider bots for exploring lava tubes or heavy-duty elephant bots for transporting solar panels.

Mix-and-match kit could enable astronauts to build a menagerie of lunar exploration bots

Online Manufacturing by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facturee.de/en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FACTUREE</a>&nbsp;is exploring new spheres as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.spaceapplications.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Space Applications Services</a>, a specialist in space technology, decided to use the B2B platform for procuring complex components. These include parts for building prototypes and space qualification models used in aerospace applications. The CNC parts are manufactured with the highest level of precision and will be delivered with short turnaround times.&nbsp;Space Applications Services NV/SA, with headquarters in the Brussels region and a subsidiary, Aerospace Applications North America, in Houston, Texas (USA), specializes in the development of systems and software for the European Space Agency (ESA), national space agencies, and the aerospace industry. The company develops international solutions and technologies for manned and unmanned spacecraft, Earth observation, science, exploration, and communication in this sector.<h2>Special components needed for prototyping in robotics</h2>The aerospace sector is of great importance for Space Applications Services. To ensure the highest quality and reliability in this highly sensitive area, complex components are required for prototyping and what are known as space qualification models.Dr.-Ing. Torsten Siedel, Project Manager at Space Applications Services NV/SA, explains, &ldquo;We had to make changes in how we procure these components, as the previous supplier no longer met our requirements in terms of material quality, delivery times, and pricing. We then thoroughly researched providers and decided to collaborate with FACTUREE &ndash; The Online Manufacturer.&rdquo;FACTUREE is a trademark of cwmk GmbH and has a wide production network with around 2,000 manufacturing partners in the areas of CNC machining, sheet metal processing, 3D printing, and surface technology. More than 15,000 machines are constantly available for projects, ensuring timely deliveries. All partners comply with the requirements of a continuous data-driven, ISO 9001 certified quality management system.&nbsp;<h2>Online Manufacturing of high-quality CNC-machined parts</h2>FACTUREE &ndash; The Online Manufacturer supplies high-quality CNC parts to Space Applications Services, enabling the company to use a particularly modern form of procurement. With its online network model, FACTUREE is in a position to provide custom components manufactured by specialized providers with a high level of precision and ensure fast delivery. As the only contract partner involved, FACTUREE is responsible for selecting the most suitable manufacturer and handling the entire process.The procurement process for components is straightforward &ndash; engineers from Space Applications Services create drawings and 3D data that are submitted to FACTUREE. The Online Manufacturer then generates a quote within one to two days. After the order is placed and delivered, all parts undergo a quality inspection at Space Applications Services. Any reworking required is quickly implemented by FACTUREE.&ldquo;For more than two years, FACTUREE has supplied us with high-quality CNC parts for various applications and projects. In addition to the high quality, we appreciate the fast delivery times and attractive pricing. The professional, uncomplicated communication also allows us to solve problems quickly, again underscoring the reliability,&rdquo; says Dr.-Ing. Torsten Siedel, adding &ldquo;Considering our positive business development that will lead to an increasing demand for CNC parts, we will certainly continue to turn to FACTUREE with corresponding orders in the future.&rdquo;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1678364095780-SpaceApps-MOSAR_komp-300x201.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><hr>cwmk GmbH, based in Berlin, operates under the brand name FACTUREE as the first Online Manufacturer. The company pursues the goal of enabling its customers to procure modern production parts through digitization, automation and networking. FACTUREE has an extensive production network of over 1000 manufacturing partners from the fields of CNC machining, sheet metal production, 3D printing and surface technology. More than 15000 machines are constantly available for projects. All partners are subject to a continuous data-driven quality management system certified according to ISO 9001. FACTUREE can realize prototyping projects as well as small and large series production. The customer base is located in the most diverse fields such as mechanical engineering, medical technology, model making, robotics, automotive as well as aerospace. Leading industrial companies like Siemens and Parker Hannifin, SMEs, research institutes and universities are among the customers. FACTUREE is active throughout Europe and has a continuously growing number of customers in other European countries.&nbsp;

Engineering and service provider for the space technology sector turns to Online Manufacturing for procuring prototype components 

Online Manufacturing goes to space

As potential locations for future base camps, the lava caves on the moon are of great interest. But how can they be reached and explored? This has been investigated by a European consortium coordinated by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in the project CoRob-X funded by the European Commission. In a final analog mission on Lanzarote, the project partners have now succeeded in proving the feasibility of their groundbreaking exploration concept based on robotic collaboration. They successfully demonstrated how a team of three autonomous rovers explores the entrance of a lava cave and enters the inside with a challenging rappel maneuver.&nbsp;A permanent station on the moon that can serve as a starting point for further exploration of our solar system is a crucial goal of international spaceflight. Optimal conditions for this could be found especially in hard-to-reach environments such as craters or lava tubes, which offer protection from radiation, meteorites, and temperature fluctuations. In addition, scientists suspect important resources such as frozen water in the lunar subsurface. However, before humans can venture into the depths of the Earth satellite, these promising locations are to be investigated by autonomous robots. But how do the robots get into the caves?While today&#39;s spaceflight still relies on remote-controlled stand-alone systems, the future belongs to autonomous collaborative robotics. In the CoRob-X (Cooperative Robots for Extreme Environments) project coordinated by the DFKI Robotics Innovation Center in Bremen, Germany, nine European partners have been investigating an ambitious exploration concept based on the cooperation of several autonomous robotic systems since March 2021. CoRob-X was one of the final projects of the Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) &quot;Space Robotics Technologies&quot;, which comprises several research projects that were funded under the European Commission&#39;s Horizon 2020 program and supervised by the PERASPERA Programme Support Activity (PSA). Within these projects, called Operational Grants, fundamental technologies or &ldquo;Building Blocks&rdquo; for robotic exploration missions were developed for use in future space missions &ndash; this includes an adaptive autonomy system for single and collaborative robots, a general software framework for sensor data fusion, environmental sensors for localization and 3D mapping, and a new electromechanical interface to couple robots to other systems or tools. The focus of CoRob-X was to test if the technologies developed in the SRC can be used to enable the robots to work as a team in the exploration of a lava tube. The scenario involves three heterogeneous autonomous rovers &ndash; the DFKI robots &quot;SherpaTT&quot; and &quot;Coyote III&quot; and the rover &quot;LUVMI-X&quot; from the Belgian company Space Applications Services NV/SA &ndash; jointly investigating the entrance to a lava cave, the so-called skylight. With the help of a sensor cube that LUVMI-X shoots into the skylight, the team obtains initial information from inside the cave. Based on this data, the systems determine a suitable location where the robust SherpaTT can support the compact Coyote III rappelling down into the lava tube using a wire rope. Once on the ground, the agile rover decouples from the rope and the docking mechanism and explores the cave. To prove the feasibility of this complex mission, around 25 project members traveled to Lanzarote from January 21 to February 11, 2023. After almost two years of intensive research and development work and several weeks of integration activities last September at the DFKI in Bremen, it was now the time to test the functionality of the technologies in a realistic environment. With its extensive lava tunnels, the volcanic island offers ideal conditions for carrying out analog missions like this one. The project team set up its tents right next to a lava cave entrance, an approximately five-meter-wide hole in the volcanic soil that granted access to the approximately four-meter-deep cave &ndash; the perfect place to extensively put the components and systems to the test and to carry out the individual mission phases. In the coming weeks, the participants were not only confronted with extremely changeable weather conditions, but also had to repeatedly overcome scientific and technical challenges, which sometimes demanded working hours late into the night. The three-week tests concluded with the final demonstration of the overall mission in front of external visitors, including representatives of the European Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Spanish Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnol&oacute;gico Industrial (CDTI) and the French Centre national d&#39;&eacute;tudes spatiales (CNES). The first mission phase went smoothly, with the robotic team approaching the cave entrance while scanning and creating a map of the surrounding area. In the second stage, LUVMI-X carried the sensor cube through the skylight into the cave interior. To simulate the lunar drop velocities, an electric winch and cable were used to lower the cube. The data recorded in the process provided a precise 3D map of the cave entrance. The goal of the third mission phase was to reach the cave interior by lowering Coyote III. To do this, the rover docked via an interface to a cable and docking station provided by SherpaTT. A rope attached to it allowed it to slowly descend through the skylight and then land safely on the cave floor. Once down, the fourth and final phase of the mission began: Coyote III explored the unknown terrain and successfully created a map of the cave environment. Overall, the external guests were highly impressed by the performance of the entire CoRob-X team and considered the field tests a great success and a milestone for future long-term missions on the Moon. Christos Ampatzis, head of the Space Technologies Section at the European Commission&#39;s Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA), summarized:&nbsp;&quot;As the final episode in a series of projects of the Strategic Research Cluster on Space Robotics, CoRob-X has successfully integrated and demonstrated the developed technology building blocks in the context of a very ambitious and challenging space research scenario. We are very pleased that the project not only allowed us to demonstrate European capabilities in space robotics, but also to cross existing boundaries and lay the foundations for future space missions.&quot; Gianfranco Visentin, head of the Automation and Robotics Section at the European Space Agency (ESA) and coordinator of the PERASPERA Program Support Activity, highlighted the importance of analog testing for space research:&nbsp;&quot;Why do we perform analog tests? The reason is very simple. A natural environment contains a lot of things that we don&#39;t expect in the lab. In a real environment, such as a lava cave, which exists exactly like this on the moon, we can experience all the variability of conditions created by nature, and we can test the robustness of engineering systems that need to function in extreme situations.&quot; Dr. Thomas V&ouml;gele, project coordinator at DFKI, described the analog mission in Lanzarote as&nbsp;&quot;a real challenge for both researchers and robots. The exploration of a lava cave with three autonomous rovers has not been demonstrated in this form before CoRob-X. We&#39;ve shown that it&#39;s possible, and hopefully we&#39;re one step closer to a real lunar mission now.&quot; Just before the Lanzarote analog mission, the company GMV Aerospace and Defense SA and the Santa B&aacute;rbara Foundation had conducted field tests in a mine in northern Spain to demonstrate the functionality of the SRC technologies in a terrestrial application scenario. A rover and a drone from the Spanish GMV were used to inspect mining tunnels. In close cooperation, the systems succeeded in inspecting a shaft after an explosion to rule out possible hazards to humans.<hr>Further information Project website:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.corob-x.eu/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.corob-x.eu/</a> CoRob-X Field Trials Blog, Lanzarote 2023 &ndash; In a multimedia blog, DFKI project members regularly reported on current events on site:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dfki.de/web/forschung/field-trials-lanzarote" target="_blank">https://www.dfki.de/web/forschung/field-trials-lanzarote</a>

A drone's eye view of the DFKI rovers SherpaTT (left) and Coyote III (center) as well as LUVMI-X from Space Applications Services NV/SA (right) at the skylight

As potential locations for future base camps, the lava caves on the moon are of great interest. But how can they be reached and explored? This has been investigated by a European consortium coordinated by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in the project CoRob-X

Paving the way for long-term missions on the moon: European team of autonomous robots explores lava cave in Lanzarote

This article was discussed in our <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1672821999265000&usg=AOvVaw3lLKdHdEN0YvCEsaHI7hx9" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/788c4555-efa4-44a6-84d8-cf9cd503de92?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>NASA recently built two weather instruments to test the potential of small, low-cost sensors to do some of the work of bulkier, pricier satellites. Both instruments have exceeded expectations as trial runs, and they are already delivering useful forecast information for the most devastating of storms, tropical cyclones.Launched in late 2021 to the International Space Station, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/5-things-to-know-about-a-pair-of-small-but-mighty-weather-instruments" target="_blank">COWVR</a> (short for Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer) measures the speed and direction of wind at the ocean surface, and TEMPEST (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems) provides atmospheric water vapor measurements. Both instruments are part of Space Test Program-Houston 8 (STP-H8), a three-year demonstration mission funded by the U.S. Space Force, which also funded the construction of COWVR. TEMPEST was built by NASA as a flight spare for a prior mission, and Space Force repurposed it for STP-H8.Imagery created from their data is being used by the U.S. <a href="https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/jtwc.html" target="_blank">Joint Typhoon Warning Center</a> to track the location and intensity of tropical cyclones in the Indian and Pacific oceans. In fact, COWVR and TEMPEST images were among the sources used by a forecaster at the typhoon center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to pin down the location of Tropical Cyclone Mandous, which roiled the Bay of Bengal off southern India in December 2022.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjc3NjI5NTA1NjI3LWpwZWdQSUEyNTU2NS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 768px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Data from the COWVR and TEMPEST instruments aboard the ISS was used to create this image of Tropical Cyclone Mandous, which forecasters used to understand the December 2022 storm&#39;s intensity and predict its path toward southern India.&nbsp; Credit: U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center/U.S. Naval Research LaboratoryFor several months, images based on COWVR and TEMPEST data have been delivered to the center by the Monterey, California-based Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), which has been working with NASA to calibrate the instruments and validate their data. Storm forecasters have been trying out the imagery &ndash; evaluating how it affects predictions and comparing it with other data sources &ndash; said Brian Strahl, the center&rsquo;s director.Reliable, frequently updated information on storm structure and location, wind speed, and humidity is crucial to the center&rsquo;s mission to track tropical cyclones between Africa&rsquo;s east coast and the west coast of the Americas, an area that includes vast expanses of open ocean.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s challenging outside of the continental U.S. &ndash; where you don&rsquo;t have weather aircraft routinely flying &ndash; to give a really good ground-truth of where these storms are, so we&rsquo;re reliant on satellites,&rdquo; Strahl said. &ldquo;Any new additions of good quality data, which we believe these are, can be very useful.&rdquo;<h2 data-block-key="8jorb">Smaller, Less Costly</h2>COWVR and TEMPEST both measure microwave emissions from Earth&rsquo;s atmosphere and surface. Data from microwave readings have an advantage over those from infrared or visible light: They can give forecasters a look at the internal structure of a tropical cyclone and help them locate the eye, even if it&rsquo;s obscured by clouds.The idea for the mission emerged a decade ago as the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) started considering the next generation of instruments that could replace sensors such as WindSat, a DoD weather radiometer that operated until 2020.COWVR incorporates technology and designs developed at NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the agency&rsquo;s Jason series of ocean-observing satellites. With Jason, engineers had to correct for the presence of atmospheric water vapor when measuring sea surface height. With COWVR, the water vapor and how it moves are the focus.Larger weather radiometers are often built with spinning dishes to enable broader coverage than that provided by an instrument that points straight down. COWVR also uses a rotating dish, but JPL engineers managed to simplify the instrument&rsquo;s design, making it more power-efficient without compromising its capabilities.Around the size of a minifridge, the instrument weighs about 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and requires about 47 watts to run &ndash; approximately the same power demand as an actual minifridge. WindSat, by comparison, weighed 990 pounds (450 kilograms) and used 350 watts. COWVR&rsquo;s design and construction budget was $24 million, roughly one-fifth the cost of WindSat.TEMPEST was a flight spare left over from NASA&rsquo;s 2018&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/temporal-experiment-for-storms-and-tropical-systems-demonstration-tempest-d" target="_blank">TEMPEST-D mission</a>. About the size of a cereal box, it weighs roughly 8 pounds (4 kilograms), draws 6.5 watts of power, and had a budget of less than $2 million. TEMPEST-D was a CubeSat demonstration led by researchers from Colorado State University, JPL, and Blue Canyon Technologies.&ldquo;NASA developed these instruments to be compact and simple, without many moving parts, and using technology that has matured over the decades,&rdquo; said Shannon Brown, principal investigator for COWVR at JPL. &ldquo;We are now seeing that instruments like that can perform as well as the more expensive operational sensors.&rdquo;Separate from STP-H8, NASA also is exploring the use of data from COWVR and TEMPEST, as well as small satellites like them, for its own weather-related missions.<h2 data-block-key="2u9ui">What&rsquo;s Next</h2>The Naval Research Laboratory has sent data from COWVR and TEMPEST to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, where forecasters have started to evaluate it. And the Joint Typhoon Warning Center intends to take a closer look at COWVR&rsquo;s surface wind speed and direction data &ndash; not just the imagery &ndash; to see if it improves tropical cyclone forecasts.The Naval Research Laboratory also continues to evaluate raw data from COWVR and TEMPEST for use in the U.S. Navy&rsquo;s global numerical weather models.&ldquo;These are critical behind-the-scenes efforts that enable us to feel confident using measurements from these new instruments,&rdquo; said Steve Swadley, NRL&rsquo;s lead for calibration and validation of data from spaceborne microwave sensors. &ldquo;So far, it looks really, really good, so that&rsquo;s exciting.&rdquo;

Known as COWVR and TEMPEST, the duo is demonstrating that smaller, less expensive science instruments can play an important role in weather forecasting.

Dynamic NASA-Built Weather Sensors Enlisted to Track Tropical Cyclones

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum f&uuml;r Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is currently working with <a href="https://www.uarx.com/" target="_blank" title="External link UARX Space">UARX</a> Space to develop a specialised spacecraft that will transport multiple satellites to different desired orbits after separation from the launch vehicle. DLR is providing a radio platform called Generic Software Defined Radio (GSDR), which is used to communicate with the ground station. GSDR is a multifunctional radio system that allows multiple applications to performed in different frequency bands. The hardware does not have to be adapted to the application-specific requirements, as is usually the case, but can be reconfigured via software and commands while in orbit.<h2>Planned mission in 2024</h2>In commercial spaceflight, one launch vehicle typically delivers several satellites into the same fixed target orbit to save costs. As a result, certain users must wait a long time for a launch vehicle that will fly to their target orbit or face the prohibitive cost of booking a rocket for their sole use. The Orbit Solutions to Simplify Injection and Exploration (<a href="https://www.uarx.com/projects/ossie.php" target="_blank" title="External link OSSIE">OSSIE</a>) orbit transfer vehicle from UARX Space is being developed with the aim of carrying satellites deployed in space to their desired target orbit, regardless of the initial deployment orbit of the launch vehicle. This places considerable demands on communication between the spacecraft and the ground segment, as the radio communication distance varies greatly throughout the mission.The GSDR, developed by DLR, will be used as the communication subsystem, as this innovative radio platform is ideally suited to OSSIE&#39;s needs and can respond flexibly to the varying communication requirements. &quot;After more than five years of development and extensive testing, our GSDR has now reached a technology readiness level (TRL) of 7. The next step is to demonstrate the system in orbit. We are delighted that our system will contribute to UARX&#39;s mission and help us harness OSSIE&#39;s full potential,&quot; says Jan Budroweit, Project Manager at DLR.OSSIE is a cost-effective Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) designed to deploy customer payloads that require transport to specific orbits. To accomplish a controlled deployment, the vehicle is commanded to conduct precise manoeuvres that change its orbital parameters. During these manoeuvres, constant communication with the ground segment is often very important. OSSIE is also capable of carrying orbital demonstrators that allow customers to test their hardware without being deployed into orbit. During such a flight, the payload receives all required services, such as power and communications, from the OSSIE platform.UARX Space already has customers for OSSIE&#39;s demonstration mission, which is planned for mid-2024, and during which the capabilities of the spacecraft will be validated in preparation for more complex missions. &quot;Counting on the support of DLR to handle such complex communication scenarios is essential to ensure we can offer the best quality of service to our customers,&quot; says Andr&eacute;s Villa, CTO at UARX Space.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1676889026224-ossie-laboratory.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Lab&shy;o&shy;ra&shy;to&shy;ry test&shy;ing of Gener&shy;ic Soft&shy;ware De&shy;fined Ra&shy;dio (GS&shy;DR) at the DLR site in Bre&shy;men. Credit: &copy; DLR. All rights reserved&nbsp;<h2>A modular, reusable radio system</h2>GSDR is designed to be easy to reuse and adapt from mission to mission. Its advanced technology enables high-performance data processing and extreme flexibility for rapid development and reconfiguration. Mission-specific features are primarily implemented through software customisation.GSDR can operate in different frequency bands without any need to adapt the hardware. This allows various applications &ndash; including communication between the ground station and the spacecraft and the reception of aircraft signals &ndash; to be implemented within a single system. This saves space and weight, which in turn reduces costs, particularly for space missions. Due to its compact design and low power consumption, the platform is especially well suited to operation with small satellites. Ensuring reliability under space conditions was a priority during the development of the GSDR. The system has been specifically designed and extensively tested to handle the effects of radiation and guarantee a high level of reliability and operational availability. The GSDR currently has a TRL of 7, so it is certified with respect to critical environmental influences such as thermal and mechanical factors and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

The OSSIE space­craft from UARX Space fea­tur­ing DLR ra­dio tech­nol­o­gy. Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is currently working with UARX Space to develop a specialised spacecraft that will transport multiple satellites to different desired orbits after separation from the launch vehicle.