SBIR Phase I: Space Object Tracking Unit

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable sustainable growth of the space ecosystem by making transparency, accountability, and predictability easy and simple for space asset operators and owners. Over the next decade, mankind will launch more objects into orbit than have launched in the entire history of space exploration. Current systems are not adequately equipped to manage the increased traffic and collision avoidance models need better data to scale. There are no unambiguous, persistent, and low-cost means to identify, track, and troubleshoot assets launched into orbit. The proposed system would fill this gap by making it easy and simple for customers to be good stewards of the orbital domain and enable fail-safe communications with a satellite. The proposed system would significantly increase the quality of space data to help avoid collisions and prevent unnecessary “space junk” due to an inability to identify newly-launched assets. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to fill the capability gap of current systems to support the explosive growth of the space economy by building a laser beacon that is a space orbit tracking unit. Current beacon systems rely on radio frequency communications, which are too bulky for small satellites, contribute to interference problems, and require a license from governing agencies. The proposed solution bypasses the limitations of the state-of-the-art by using a low-power optical signal. This signal is sent from a tiny device compatible with small satellites which makes adoption simple for the predominant form-factor on orbit. Research goals include miniaturization of the electronic systems, modeling the optical link between beacon and detector, and determining optimal configuration for the power supply/generation so the beacon does not draw host resources.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.