United States
DARPA Makes FREND(s)
To improve the robotics necessary to rendezvous with satellites in orbit on missions involving transport, refueling, and repair, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed the Front-end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration (FREND) program in 2008.
Leveling Up: Armadillo Wins Level One
In October 2008, Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace won the $350,000 prize for Level One of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. This program is intended to spur development of new lunar landers capable of ferrying payloads and people between lunar orbit and the lunar surface.
The Voyage of the Jules Verne
ESA’s Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was guided to the International Space Station through a system that uses the GPS signal to determine position and velocity, allowing the ATV to navigate to the ISS. With the help of GPS, the Jules Verne successfully delivered cargo, water, and oxygen during its service mission to the ISS in April 2008.
Tracking “SnailMail”
A letter-sized GPS device is being used by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to locate mail and determine how long it spends in one place. The GPS Letter Logger, developed by TrackingTheWorld, uses a Texas Instruments microprocessor and a GPS module to track lettersized mail packages.
RFID, Cellular, and Satellite Provide Effective Shipping Container Tracking
An innovative system under development in 2008 can track shipping containers at sea using radio-frequency identification (RFID) and satellite communications. A Siemens IT Solutions product under testing uses active RFID transponders and sensors that collect data on the contents of the containers.
Immersive 3-D Technology Coming to a Hotel Near You
IPIX is a new technology developed for NASA using 3-D “immersive” photography and video to allow a user to view a photographed environment with the same spatial awareness that they would experience in person. Originally intended to guide space robots, the technology is finding applications of benefit to a number of commercial enterprises.
Restoring Satellite Service Access After Disasters
Maintaining business continuity during and after natural or man-made disasters continues to evolve as a well-established satellite network application. Following hurricanes Gustav and Ike in September 2008, ViaSat quickly repaired or installed ground-based satellite terminals.
Competition in In-flight Internet Access
A new in-flight Internet provider, Row 44, which utilizes Hughes’ satellite network, will begin deploying service to North America commercially in 2009. Southwest and Alaska airlines are Row 44’s current customers.
Better Bandwidth with Upgraded Satellite Modems
Some of the key advances in satellite services technology are in ground equipment, particularly modems and routers. One of the leaders in this sector, Hughes Network Systems, in 2008 released an advanced networking device that can optimize corporate network bandwidth and reduce hardware complexity.
Shuttle Stress Analyzers Relieve Infrastructure Strain
Several product lines of fiber optic-based stress and strain analyzers have been created from a NASA technology spinoff developed to monitor structural strain on the Space Shuttle. The technology is unique because it can analyze stress and strain on components without requiring the disassembly of the Space Shuttle.