Autonomous Maneuvering Unit to be Developed under NASA SSA Contract
A NASA Space Act Agreement (SAA) contract has been awarded to Special Aerospace Services for the development of an Autonomous Maneuvering Unit (AMU) to be used in civil, commercial, and national security missions.
"SAS' AMU technology will rapidly advance commercial space-related efforts."
Heather Bulk, SAS
Awarded under the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2) initiative, the AMU system will allow safer assembly of commercial LEO (low Earth orbit) space stations, servicing, retrieval, and inspection of in-space systems.
SAS has spent the last three years investing in in-space servicing technology, propulsion, and robotic technology, specifically in the prototype development of the Autonomous Maneuvering Unit and the Astronaut Assist-AMU for commercial in-space servicing and mobility applications.
"This agreement is critical in providing expertise, historical data, lessons learned, and access to NASA personnel in order for SAS to accelerate our commercial development of the AMU technology," said Special Aerospace Services Chief Technical Officer & Co-Founder Tim Bulk.
Autonomous Maneuvering Unit will Advance Commercial Efforts in Space: Bulk
"SAS' AMU technology will rapidly advance commercial space-related efforts," said Special Aerospace Services President and Chief Executive Officer Heather Bulk. "We look forward to this partnership and long-term collaboration with NASA."
CCSC-2 continues the pursuit of goals set in the U.S. National Space Policy and NASA’s strategic plan that will benefit human spaceflight and the U.S. commercial low-Earth orbit economy by meeting future business and government needs through unfunded Space Act Agreements (SAA).
According to NASA, these SAAs are designed to advance commercial space-related efforts through NASA contributions of technical expertise, assessments, lessons learned, technologies, and data. Structured sharing of NASA expertise demands minimal government resources but fosters development of technologies crucial to development of a robust low-Earth orbit economy.
NASA’s support for a robust low-Earth orbit economy is intended to boost education and job growth in science and engineering, and to spur economic growth through the creation of new space markets.
(Source: SAS news release. Image provided)