Auria has announced it has secured a contract to support the integration of its Autonomous Planning System (APS) into the Cislunar Testbed at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). The project involves using APS for autonomous onboard planning, which will manage and prioritize various mission objectives. These include power management, imaging the lunar surface with Space Situational Awareness sensors, maintaining awareness of cislunar orbital regimes, planning spacecraft communications, coordinating data processing activities, and ensuring all safety constraints are met.
According to Auria, “APS will be used onboard to autonomously plan and deconflict multiple competing operator-defined mission objectives including managing power, imaging the lunar surface using SSA sensors to maintain cislunar orbital regime awareness, planning spacecraft communication, orchestrating data processing activities, and ensuring that all mission safety constraints are maintained (e.g. protecting sensitive sensor optics from bright objects and maintaining thermal stability of bus hardware components).”
The APS will operate on APL’s flight-like computers within a simulated cislunar environment. This setup is intended to provide realistic testing conditions for spacecraft and missions. The company states that this transition toward flight readiness in the Testbed could create opportunities for APS technology to be included in future APL missions. The Cislunar Testbed is designed to help advance U.S. capabilities in space near the Moon by raising the technology readiness level of systems like APS.
“APS is a powerful technology for autonomous planning across domains, with the breadth of its applications demonstrating its exceptional flexibility,” according to Auria. The system has previously been used for autonomous operations with DARPA’s Low Earth Orbit satellite constellations, local domain awareness and safety assurance in AFRL’s SaFIRE program, coordination among unmanned vehicles with the Navy, as well as supporting NASA projects involving robotic Mars exploration and lunar operations.
Auria is headquartered in Colorado Springs with additional offices in Boulder; Washington DC; Huntsville; Albuquerque; Ogden; and San Diego. More information about their services can be found at www.Auria.Space.
