Space is becoming more challenging to navigate due to factors such as natural hazards and the rapid increase of artificial objects, including operating and nonfunctional spacecraft. Acquiring, maintaining, and strengthening space domain awareness (SDA) provides operators and the broader space enterprise a richer understanding of the conditions that spacecraft must operate in, and can also increase speed and agility in troubleshooting on-orbit problems that may arise.

The Aerospace Corporation, in collaboration with Space Systems Command (SSC), built Catcher, a payload that provides real-time local insights on a variety of hazards that its host may encounter.

The Aerospace Corporation, in collaboration with Space Systems Command (SSC), is building confidence in compact SDA capabilities with Catcher, a payload that provides real-time local insights on a variety of hazards that its host may encounter. The sensor payload will be able to discern threats within the host’s surrounding environment, including those across certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and mechanical impacts.

“The capability demonstration provided by Catcher marks the first step toward a future where all space vehicles will have a heightened situational awareness” said 1st Lt. George Eberwine, program manager for SDA Prototypes at Space Systems Command. “We’ve reached a point where small and robust sensors can be integrated with space assets and provide operators with real-time data on all aspects of the vehicle’s environment, in addition to serving as critical data sources for anomaly attribution, should something unexpected occur.”