Advances in multi-mission autonomous rendezvous and docking and relative navigation capabilities

Abstract

Relative Navigation (RelNav) applications, have been identified as an enabling function of many of NASA's future mission architectures, including Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD), as well as planetary surface rendezvous and landing, surface mobility and in space servicing. Functional capabilities have been maintained and exercised for decades, but recent design and test efforts have validated revolutionary improvements in functionality and performance levels of active and passive relative navigation sensors and processing, providing a pathway for advanced autonomous operations The advances are multidisciplinary and include compact, multimission algorithm design, high performance camera technology, flash LIDAR advances, spatial light modulation and systems engineering. Many of the key technologies have been demonstrated in airborne test programs, and some of the key flash LIDAR advances were flight qualified on the Sensor Test for Orion RelNav Risk Mitigation (STORRM) relative navigation sensor suite, flown in 2011 on STS-134. The STORRM sensor suite has been developed to provide a highly reliable, compact, lightweight solution for human and robotic missions. This paper provides progress and performance results associated with relative navigation via STORRM, as well as other RelNav technology advancement and relevance to future mission applications. Cooperative and noncooperative mission application environments with natural and manmade targets and feature sets and varying degrees of autonomy are addressed.