Ireland Degges
Solstar Space has won a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer contract from the Department of the Air Force to assess the company’s Slayton Space Communicator for high-speed data communications.
In conducting this work, Solstar Space will partner with Andrei Zagrai, a professor of mechanical engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based enterprise announced on Wednesday.
Brian Barnett, CEO of Solstar Space, noted the geographic limitations associated with the location of ground stations and satellite orbital positions of the 100 DAF and Space Force satellites. He said these barriers can slow the delivery of mission communications to spacecraft, which may result in negative consequences.
Still in development, the Slayton Space Communicator is envisioned to minimize these communication hurdles. The flight-proven modular device, which is a constant high-bandwidth downlink and uplink data relay, is designed to be integrated into spacecraft to provide satellite operators with near real-time command and control.
These capabilities “decrease the time it takes to download mission data or make adjustments to on-orbit systems” and provide nonstop monitoring, management and mission instructions with on-orbit payloads using “continuous and near real-time assessment of the payload’s performance,” according to Barnett.
Meanwhile, Zagrai said that NMT is working with Solstar Space to incorporate its structural health monitoring unit, which is intended to enhance situational awareness and lower spacecraft operation costs, with the Slayton Space Communicators. When paired with Solstar Space’s technology, the SHM offering will provide proactive monitoring, management and mission support to both public and private spacecraft, Zagrai added.
Alongside this contract win, Solstar Space is currently working to deliver its space connectivity offerings to NASA. In July 2022, the startup was selected by Northrop Grumman to provide a wireless access point for NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost, which is scheduled to launch in 2024.
