← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
By using multiple spacecraft working together, we can achieve new scientific and technological objectives that a single spacecraft cannot match on its own. While this presents an exciting new way to design space missions, it also makes them more difficult to plan and maintain. Collisions between spacecraft must be avoided at all costs. Due to the proximity and speed of spacecraft in these multi-spacecraft systems, it is essential that they have the capability to plan maneuvers onboard to avoid colliding with one another. This proposed work will attempt to find simple-to-compute solutions for spacecraft collision avoidance that are fuel-efficient and reliable. The approach relies on using insights from the motion of spacecraft relative to one another to move the spacecraft system from an unsafe configuration where a collision might be expected to a safe configuration where they have a long-term stable separation. The work will be expanded from a simplified case of 2 spacecraft to a more complicated case involving multiple spacecraft.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 2) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.
None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.