Enabling Persistent Platforms Through OSAM Technologies

Abstract

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-2518.vid The feasibility of a persistent asset is now, more than ever, an economical possibility. Reduced launch costs, autonomous in-space robotics, and more efficient packing schemes such as deployables and 3D printing reduce the cost to get to orbit and stay there as a persistent asset. Persistent assets serve multiple missions, use modular components, are assembled robotically over multiple launches, and reconfigure to adapt to new objectives and technologies. The benefits of persistent assets abound. Shared resources, communications, power, radiators, etc., free the mission designer to focus on their specific mission needs. Upgrading across multiple launches allows pay-as-you-go finances. Significant mass and volume reductions are achieved while simultaneously improving robustness and reliability. Redwire’s mission is to accelerate humanity’s expansion into space by delivering reliable, economical, and sustainable infrastructure for future generations. A key infrastructure application is the persistent asset. Through the development of On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM), Metrology/Sensors, Hardware Elements, and Services, Redwire has an ecosystem of OSAM and space system technologies ideal for persistent space assets. This paper surveys these four categories of critical enabling technologies being actively developed by Redwire.