The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Tuesday, January 22 posted a video that showed what the government agency had in mind for the Phoenix project. The initiative is meant to help make satellites cheaper and was started a year ago. According to the video Darpa want to create robots that locate dead satellites and then harvests their functional antennas. These parts are then used by the robot to build new satellites by attaching them to modular “satlets”.
The video is a combination of actual lab footage and computer animation that show how the robots will create the longer lasting satellites in space. It is what Darpa hopes the robots will be able to do four years from now when the project expects to have results.
Darpa’s Phoenix program manager, David Barnhart, explains that, “The fundamental precept is cost. That is the bottom line: is there a way that we can completely rethink the cost-calculus of how satellites are put together?”
Satellites are state of the art technology which are quite expensive. The satellite alone costs tens of millions of dollars and launching it into space cost just as much. Currently space is filled with junk and according to Barnhart out of 1300 “space objects,” working satellites number only 500. If Darpa can successfully utilize the space junk to create new satellite they are cutting costs dramatically and keeping the US on top of the space race.
Phoenix is getting $180 million to work with robots like FREND that was designed by the Naval Research Laboratories‘ space-engineering division. The item will be the center piece of the effort and will be used to detach the antennas from dead satellites. The Phoenix will then connect them to satlets which are currently being developed by the government agency.
A obstacle that Darpa needs to overcome is how they will combine the antennas ans satlets in outer space. An idea that has been showcased in the video is the use of electrostatic charge. Another idea “is patterned after how a Gecko crawls up walls,” according to Barnart. He goes on to say that, “using thousands of individual micro hair-like follicles on its foot pads.”
Darpa is expected to make another announcement next month explaining its next Phoenix related phase.
Source: Wired
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