Speaker
Description
With serial numbers close to 100 currently in manufacturing the product family RVS® 3000 by Jena-Optronik GmbH has evolved into a very successful light-induced detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor for rendezvous and docking operations between spacecraft. This success has been enabled by a flexible hardware and software design, which allows optimization of LIDAR-based 3D point cloud measurement and subsequent 3D data analysis for various purposes. The retro-reflector tracking function is used for relative navigation during flights to the International Space Station on Cygnus since 2019. More complex algorithms and slightly more complex hardware enables degree-of-freedom (6DOF) pose estimation between two spacecraft. It enabled LIDAR-based relative navigation between uncooperative satellites in the frame of Northrop Grumman’s (NG) Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) program in 2020 and 2021. As of today the rendezvous sensors on the spacecraft, MEV-1 and MEV-2 have already successfully serviced three clients. As the 6DOF pose estimation capability of the RVS® 3000-X is based on pre-knowledge of a 3D model of the rendezvous or docking partner and as this 3D model can be updated in orbit, it can serve a wide range of missions.
The ongoing development and first intermediate results of the next-generation LiDAR-based rendezvous sensor, the µRVS derived from the well-established and widely adopted heritage RVS® 3000 product family, will be presented. The µRVS shall complement Jena-Optronik’s suite of rendezvous sensors by an option which is smaller, has less weight and is optimized for relative navigation during the last few hundred meters of the rendezvous or docking maneuver. The current design approach, architectural adaptations implemented to achieve the desired compactness and the performance as well as on the route to qualification and flight will be briefly outlined.
A first engineering model has been successfully developed and is currently undergoing testing. Initial test results including functional verification and early performance characterization will be presented and discussed in the context of expected operational use cases.
The presented results demonstrate the successful maturation of the RVS® 3000 product family and extended application possibilities and outline the next evolution steps of the Jena-Optronik rendezvous and docking sensor portfolio.