CU AEROSPACE L.L.C. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: SF222-0011

Description

There is growing interest in the space industry for the design and application of space architectures that can satisfy multiple mission profiles. Contemporary satellite systems exhibit substantial inefficiencies in the long term, owing chiefly to the difficulty of repairing/modifying the architectures once on orbit. A more modularized design enables the architecture to reuse core subsystems for a variety of payloads, reconfigure the system’s layout at will, and replace faulty or outdated equipment.  Several groups have developed modular power/data interfaces, but none to date are able to carry significant payloads attached through them through typical launch loads.       CU Aerospace (CUA) teamed with Altius and Starbright propose the development of a Launch Hardened Universal Payload Interface (LH-UPI) for future flight demonstration.  This modular power-data interface is based upon CUA’s Guideless Resilient Androgynous Serial Port (GRASP) interface which allows for androgynous “hard dock” launch hardened connection of different modules in multiple orientations, in combination with Altius’ MagTag interface also provides multifunctionality and a “soft dock” connection through their Electro-Permanent Magnet (EPM) technology.  The hybrid of the two technologies marries the advantages of both “hard” and “soft” dock capability into a single package with power/data interfaces and potentially fluid transfer capability.  Key benefits of this approach include: (i) launch lock capable to support ESPA-class payloads through launch loads while still being modularly robotically swappable on-orbit; (ii) Magnetic soft docking EPMs help reduce the risk of bounce-off while GRASP’s mechanical system secures a hard-lock and pulls together power/fluid connectors; (iii) No power hold EPMs and the GRASP system are designed to not require power to maintain hold; (iv) Passive + androgenous active architecture enables modular components with an active side that can androgynously connect to either a passive or another active interface; and (v) Electronics/motors can be located in a separate installation tool to lower the interface overhead cost and mass per attached module.     Prior government-funded efforts allowed CUA and Altius to advance their patented GRASP and MagTag technologies to TRL 5. The goal of this proposed effort is to (i) reduce risk for these subsystems, (ii) choose a preliminary fluid transfer coupler design using COTS terrestrial blind-mate fluid quick-disconnects that fits within the LH-UPI architecture, and (iii) develop a preliminary LH-UPI hardware design for Phase II qualification testing.  In Phase II, the team would focus on developing the launch hardened power/data interface of a flight-like LH-UPI to fully characterize its performance and perform a robotic technology demonstration experiment.  Flight development and qualification of space-compatible fluid-ports and an in-space flight verification demonstration would be proposed for Phase III.