Domain awareness in cislunar space goal of contract with Rhea Space Activity
NewsOctober 21, 2021
WASHINGTON. Rhea Space Activity (RSA) has been selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) AFWERX program for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to continue its effort in the development of an enhanced Lunar Intelligence (LUNINT) Dashboard in support of Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
According to the company, the award marks the next-step for RSA's SDA program. During its recently completed Phase I effort, RSA worked directly with the U.S. Space Force (USSF) to identify potential national security issues emerging from hard-to-predict cislunar trajectories entering the Earth's geostationary belt.
Throughout this next Phase II effort, RSA claims it will aim to further develop critical capabilities that will directly inform operational SDA needs. The term "cislunar" refers to the area of space between the Earth and the Moon.
Purdue University and Saber Astronautics are assisting RSA in this endeavor. Purdue University leads the identification of spacecraft trajectories influenced by "three-body" and "n-body dynamics," and Saber Astronautics develops software for visualizing the space environment. Together, the elements comprise the "LUNINT Dashboard."
