The U.S. Space Force awarded a $1.6 million contract to Arkisys to demonstrate robotic satellite assembly.

Under a SpaceWERX Small Business Innovation Research contract, Arkisys and its partners, Novawurks, Motiv Space Systems, Qediq, iBoss, and Texas A and M University will demonstrate how they would assemble a three-axis stabilized satellite with the robotic arm on the Arkisys Port Module.

In-Orbit Assembly
The satellite for the demonstration to be assembled on the ground will be comprised of at least three Novawurks Slegos, box-shaped modules that provide capabilities like pointing, information processing and data storage. The Arkisys-led team will also attach other payloads to prove the utility of the new spacecraft.

"Through the unique SBIR process from U.S. Space Force and SpaceWERX, we will address using resources in space to create new platforms or modify them on the fly," Talbot Jaeger, Novawurks chief technology officer, said in a statement. "The Port will demonstrate a platform that can create a space system from parts into an operational element."

"The ability to assemble a functional satellite off of another platform is something that will open up not just Earth-orbit markets and on-the-fly changes to existing satellites, but on-demand satellites for lunar or Martian exploration," Robert Ambrose, director of space and robotics Initiatives at the Texas A and M Engineering Experiment Station, said in a statement. "This is incredibly exciting for us as we are developing platforms to validate and demonstrate higher fidelity robotics on orbit, to build, assemble, repair and operate ."

For the demonstration, iBoss Space of Germany and Novawurks will supply the hardware and software interfaces. Motiv is providing the robotic arm. Qediq is helping Arkisys develop and build the Applique, a universal interface adapter to connect spacecraft payloads.

Unlocking the capability of your business to grow the most innovative and creative ideas in Earth orbit and beyond.

Arkisys introduces "the Port", a long-duration, fully robotic orbital destination, designed to provide space infrastructure as a service for science, manufacturing and commercial business activities.

We are building one of the first commercial robotic orbiting platform destinations and long-duration space-infrastructure-as-a-service business. "The Port" is designed as an aggregatable platform able to unlock manufacturing, assembly, resupply, and entirely new sources of business activities in space, thus revealing and capitalizing on existing and "undiscovered" markets.

Related Links
Arkisys
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com