Rhea Space Activity Expands Lunar Intelligence (LUNINT) Business with Two Lunar Payloads
Summary
Payloads will demonstrate LUNINT capabilities using celestial navigation, lunar terrain tracking & taking highest resolution images of the Moon from lunar orbitWASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , UNITED STATES, March 6, 2024 / EINPresswire.com / -- Rhea Space Activity recently received a $750,000 grant to test its novel autonomous navigation technology, the Jervis Autonomy Module, in cislunar space. RSAs JAM units will fly on two separate communications satellites in lunar orbit that are designed to communicate with the APEX 1.0 lunar lander that is designed and operated by ispace technologies U.S., Inc.The proprietary JAM hardware and software device provides autonomous guidance and navigation, allowing a spacecraft to determine its orbit and location in space using images of celestial objects rather than by contacting other satellites or ground stations on Earth. "RSAs JAM reduces mission costs by eliminating expenses associated with gathering radiometric data and supporting personnel from the NASA Deep Space Network. "Additionally, RSA is iterating its JAM hardware and software product to also provide discrete navigation and communication capabilities on Earth, supporting ground, air, and sea operations.For this TechFlights effort, RSA is contracted with ispace-U.S., the designer and operator of the lander, and will integrate JAM on the lunar communications satellites to be flown on the Draper-led CLPS initiative.The contract between RSA and ispace-U.S. marks the first commercial rideshare for our series of upcoming lunar missions, said Ron Garan, CEO of ispace-U.S. We look forward to hosting additional commercial payloads on future missions to bolster the U.S. commercial industrys expansion to the Moon.The Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, led by team Draper, aims to land in the Schr\xf6dinger Basin, a large impact crater near the Moons southern pole. These images will be used to create lunar mapping products along with collecting high resolution imagery of other areas of interest, such as the Apollo landing site.