Roger Hunter, NASA Ames Research Center; Elwood Agasid, NASA Ames Research Center; Samson Phan, NASA Ames Research Center; Nathan Benz, NASA Ames Research Center; Scott Miller, NASA Ames Research Center; Caleb Adams, NASA Ames Research Center; Brian Kempa, NASA Ames Research Center; Jeremy Frank, NASA Ames Research Center; Michael Iatauro, NASA Ames Research Center; Justin Kruger, EraDrive Inc.; Simone D’Amico, EraDrive Inc.; Julianna Fishman, Millenium Engineering & Integration Company; Sasha Weston, Millenium Engineering & Integration Company
Keywords: Small Spacecraft, PNT, SSA/SDA,
Abstract:
This paper provides an overview of the NASA Starling Technology Demonstration, an on-orbit Starling has four experiment onboard: ROMEO, MANET, DSA and StarFOX (respectively, cluster flight management, adhoc network communications management, distributed spacecraft autonomy, and autonomous navigation via relative range determination.. Each experiment and its objectives are described and the results presented. This demonstration is also involved in a space-traffic management experiment, known as Starling 1.5, with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.The paper will also introduce the topics of 2 new studies initiated by the Small Spacecraft and Distributed Systems Program Office for on-orbit space-traffic-monitoring-system, and an on-orbit next-generation swarm for CISLUNAR PNT-Comm-Space Situational Awareness.
Date of Conference: September 16-19, 2025
Best Paper Award Winner 2025
Track: Space-Based Assets