SAIC Technology May Help Spur Space Exploration

The future of exploration

In the future, NASA wants to automate rendezvous and docking missions as part of its new Vision for Space Exploration. This initiative involves using the shuttle to complete the space station, then retiring the shuttle and building a new generation of spacecraft to venture out into the solar system. Because technical communications are problematic during lunar operations and not practical for Mars operations, automating rendezvous and docking missions — which allows for significantly less support from the ground — is critical.

"It is very exciting to be working on a system that we believe will help our country get back to the moon," said SAIC's Kevin Betts, an engineering director in Huntsville, Ala. "We live in Rocket City, and the excitement of moving back to an exploration mindset is very tangible in our city. We are happy to play our part in helping make that journey possible."

SPARTAN has end-to-end versatility

One of the things that distinguishes SPARTAN, which stands for Simulation Package for Autonomous Rendezvous Test and Analysis, is its ability to run simulations involving all elements of the automated rendezvous and docking system.

"It can be used from cradle-to-grave for space development programs, with front-end use during the concept of operations development and hardware architecture trade studies and back-end use as the simulation environment for algorithm development and ultimately hardware-in-the-loop testing prior to deployment," Betts said.

There also could be significant potential benefits to SAIC based on this work for NASA, according to Betts.

"We're focused on expanding the offerings we can make to vehicle prime contractors," Betts said. "Instead of delivering a single payload or algorithm, we're working to provide intelligent products — hardware and software tied together — that can be used to provide an integrated solution. This would allow SAIC to provide even more value to our current commercial and government customers."

Space superiority is a new domain

In addition, SAIC's work on SPARTAN may become valuable in the new domain of space superiority.

"The ability to rapidly assess sensor performance and autonomous algorithms that can react quickly to changing threats are highly valuable capabilities to apply to this arena," Betts said. "The U.S. space superiority is focused on situational awareness and potential defensive counter-measures if a U.S. asset is attacked. Since other countries focus significant effort on offensive space capabilities, the ability to simulate offensive space tactics becomes necessary to develop the effective defensive strategies."