← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 4)
The Precision Formation Alignment Navigation System, or pFANtASY, is an integrated guidance and navigation subsystem for the acquisition and fine alignment of a dual spacecraft distributed science instrument mission. pFANtASY will acquire another spacecraft at up to 100m distance at 18 m down to 5-micron accuracy. This is achieved by a staggered set of instruments used for sensing illuminated spots on the target spacecraft. Initial acquisition is achieved with a camera-based acquisition mode that senses a set of illuminated beacons to 18m to 1 cm accuracy. Then a precise centration system comprised of a laser optic and quad-cell detector to sense relative position from 2 cm down to 20 micron accuracy. These sensor signals are ingested into navigation software to eliminate noise and produce the <5micron 3-sigma accuracy required. The components currently selected take an estimated 3 kg mass, 10 W power, and 4U volume but can be scaled to meet the needs of larger spacecraft.
pFANtASY will enable a new class of science investigations needing instrumentation distributed across multiple spacecraft platforms. These distributed spacecraft missions span the 4 primary NASA science disciplines of astrophysics, earth science, heliophysics, and planetary sciences. The concepts developed span the NASA mission classes, ranging from Small Satellite technology demonstration missions all the way to flagship science missions. pFANtASY is designed for a small sat platform and will enable small sat missions seeking to employ a distributed instrument architecture. By demonstrating the ability to acquire micron level relative position sensing, pFANtASY will reduce risk for larger SMEX, MIDEX, and flagship-class science missions.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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.