Technologies Needed to Support Space Servicing, Mobility, and Logistics (SML) at the United States Space Force (USSF)

Abstract

This paper discusses the 2030 Space Logistics vision, and the work done by the USSF Pervasive Capability Collaboration Teams (CCTs) and the Space Access, Mobility & Logistics (SAML) CCT to support in-space Servicing, Mobility, & Logistics (SML) requirements; these in-space capabilities include in-space autonomous rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD), active debris mitigation and disposal of non-cooperative (tumbling) space objects, small, efficient, low-cost, trusted, autonomous robotic arms, and open standard interfaces to enable ISAM, and SML technical need solutions and transition. This paper will also propose more work to be done to support SML in the future, including modeling in-space logistics as a supply-aggregation-and-distribution network utilizing a hub-and-spoke (node-and-leg) framework, and architecture-level interoperability issues.