Autonomous Space Platforms

Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome to the Autonomous Platforms of the Future Newsletter, designed to inform you about future game changing products, technologies, and platforms. This week I'll be focusing on highlighting Autonomous Space Platforms and some really cool use cases they execute.

Have you ever wondered what does deep space look like or how other planets exist in our current solar system? I'll be discussing how autonomous space vehicles are paving the way for identifying other habitable planets and creating environments where humans can travel/live outside of Earth. I'm excited to explore this topic further as our future lifestyles will drastically look be different over the next few decades thanks to autonomous space vehicles.

Autonomous Space Platforms or Spacecraft are growing exponentially in the government space as researchers are looking to identify habitable planets in our solar system outside of Earth.

Autonomy is an essential technology for multi-spacecraft missions. It allows spacecraft to decide their next activities, as opposed to having the spacecraft send their status to a control station on the ground and await further instructions.

Lets start by defining what an Autonomous spacecraft is:

Autonomous Spacecraft - are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input; they may be remote controlled, remote guided or autonomous: they have a pre-programmed list of operations, which they will execute unless otherwise instructed.

Let's revisit history for a second. The first uncrewed space mission was Sputnik 1, a artificial satellite that launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957 to orbit the Earth. On November 3, 1957, Sputnik 2 was orbited by USSR and carried the first animal into space, a dog. The US also launched its first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, on January 31, 1958 which carried sensors on board.

Exploring the environments on other planets in space has been a major initiative globally as scientists look to understand other potentially habitable planets.

Autonomous platforms have provided a way to explore those previously unknown areas as well as enhanced space travel repairs for astronauts.

Some of these key capabilities they provide are:

• Deep space exploration

• In-space surface sample collection

• Wireless on-board communication

In the public eye, several of the specific missions and types of spacecraft are not known due to high levels of security clearances needed.

However, below is a breakdown of the common types of uncrewed spacecraft:

1. Space probe - A robotic spacecraft that does not orbit Earth, but instead, explores further into outer space and gather scientific information.

2. Cargo spacecraft - A robotic spacecraft that is designed specifically to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies

3. Space telescope - A telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Divided into two types: satellites which map the entire sky (astronomical surv

Top 5 major companies in the Autonomous Space platform industry (links included to their respective space pages):

• Lockheed Martin - https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space.html

• Boeing -

  https://www.boeing.com/defense/autonomous-systems#space

• Northrop Grumman - https://www.northropgrumman.com/space

• SpaceX - https://www.spacex.com

• Sierra Space - https://www.sierraspace.com/dream-chaser-spaceplane/

Key Industry Space Customers:

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

• The U.S. Space Force

As mentioned before, deep space exploration and identifying habitable planets in our solar system is a high priority for NASA due to the major emphasis on preserving human life. I see, in the distant future, our current space stations being operated fully autonomously so astronauts can execute more difficult missions in deep space. In my opinion, I see a fully operational space ecosystem being created with Autonomous spacecraft transporting humans to habitable space stations on other planets and growing crops free from the use of some pesticides utilized today.

As more companies enter this industry to expand the capabilities of spacecraft, enhance living conditions on space stations, and explore deep space missions, this will change how normal business is done and shift to a more collaborative outlook. I look forward to the day when we can take trips to Mars, the Moon, or even Jupiter as a normal vacation idea. Autonomous spacecraft will be at the forefront of what will be capable in space for near and long term outlooks.

Thanks for joining me this week. Stay tuned for my next technology talk by subscribing below and sharing with colleagues you think it would benefit.

If you'd like to collaborate with me on future technology opportunities, use my calendly link to book a time. Hope you have a great rest of your week