The emergence of commercial space capabilities is rapidly evolving how the hardest problems in space can be solved. Adopting innovative thinking and identifying diverse approaches can help accelerate success for the space enterprise. The Aerospace Corporation looks to advance pathways that match commercial solutions that meet and anticipate the needs of its government customers.

A case in point is Aerospace’s work on Ironsight, a testbed dedicated to supporting the maturation of emerging technologies for rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD).

A noticeable trend in customers’ future roadmaps is RPOD, a capability that involves more than one spacecraft to complete a maneuver. To ensure this technology is safe, validated and ready to be utilized for missions, further research is required.

In-development technology has traditionally undergone testbed evaluations and exercises to reach operational maturity. However, Aerospace’s current set of tools and testbeds were originally built for single-vehicle missions and are therefore not compatible to assess novel RPOD technology. Aerospace is filling this capability gap by building tools and testbeds designed to test and mature RPOD technology and advance innovative solutions for the space enterprise.