DESIGN NET ENGINEERING LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: SB161-007

Description

The ability to place a modular, configurable platform in GEO which can accommodate payloads, provide them leasable services, and perhaps serve as a waystation for intermediate assembly prior to continuing on to an extended interplanetary mission would be a true game-changer for science and technology.Development of a business model for such a venture whereby the payload saves money and resources by leasing what is needed from the platform and paying only for transport of the sensor or payload instead of an entire spacecraft will also change the equation for launch and operations costs. Such a platform or platforms can be realizable near term with key developments in the fields of MOSA based networks which support discovery and auto-configuration, robotic assembly, transport to orbit, advanced docking mechanisms, thermal control, modular power systems, and standardized interfaces.DesignNet and Cateni propose to take advantage of these individual technology breakthroughs, couple them with an extended survey of mission use cases, and provide a systems engineering process to determine the feasibility, cost, configuration, and development approach for such a system.Our baseline utilizes a a single initial launch for an IOC configuration coupled with utilization of the POD system from Space Systems Loral.