Nearly 40 years after NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless made the first ever untethered spacewalk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit, a Colorado company called Special Aerospace Services is looking to tap into that expertise to develop a commercial version of the system to assist future astronauts.
Special Aerospace Services (SAS) signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA in June to collaborate on the development of an Autonomous Maneuvering Unit (AMU) that astronauts would use to service spacecraft and assemble structures in space.
SAS and NASA will work through a series of 12 milestones over the next four years to help advance the development of the AMU, according to the agreement. The agreement is unfunded, meaning each partner will cover its own costs.
“This agreement is critical in providing expertise, historical data, lessons learned, and access to NASA personnel in order for SAS to accelerate our commercial development of the AMU technology,” said SAS Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder Tim Bulk in a press release.
SAS said it has spent three years investing in in-space servicing, propulsion, and robotic technology, including the development of an AMU prototype. The company plans to sell the units to commercial, civil government, and military agencies.
“SAS’ AMU technology will rapidly advance commercial space-related efforts,” said President and CEO Heather Bulk said in the press release. “We look forward to this partnership and long-term collaboration with NASA.”
SAS signed the agreement under NASA’s Commercial Space Capabilities 2 initiative, which is focused on furthering the development of commercial capabilities in Earth orbit. NASA wants to have commercial space stations and other commercial capabilities there prior to the planned decommissioning of the International Space Station in 2030.
NASA also signed (CCSC-2) unfunded agreements in June with Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, SpaceX, ThinkOrbital, and Vast. The milestone timeline provided in the agreement is replicated below.
Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities 2 Initiative
NASA-Special Aerospace Services Space Act Agreement
Milestones
| No. | Milestone | Success Criteria | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | SAS Data/Preconcept Review SAS shares what work has been completed, gap analysis, and review of historical MMU and SAFER documentation specifically lessons learned and safety implications. |
SAS will provide a presentation, gap assessment and preconcept review after reviewing lessons learned and previous MMU and SAFER flight data. | 7/15/2023 |
| 2. | SAS Systems Requirements Review SAS provides a Systems Requirements Review (SRR) presentation on the Autonomous Maneuvering Unit (AMU). Also identify any requirements or issues related to the goal of Human Rating. |
SAS will provide a SRR presentation identifying risks and additional Human Rating/certification requirements. | 12/15/2023 |
| 3. | SAS Program Review: A yearly Program Review to present results on financial status, investments, data requests, and overall development schedule and risk. | SAS will provide a yearly Program Review presentation identifying risks, schedule issues and a financial review. | 02/15/2024 |
| 4. | SAS Preliminary Design Review and Safety Review: SAS will hold a PDR and a Hazardous Analysis and System Safety Review. | SAS will successfully complete a PDR and identify schedule and development risk items. | 06/15/2024 |
| 5. | SAS Critical Design Review and Safety Review: SAS will hold a CDR and a Hazardous Analysis and System Safety Review. | SAS will successfully complete a CDR and identify schedule and development risk items. | 12/15/2024 |
| 6. | SAS Yearly Program Review #2: A yearly Program Review to present results on financial status, investments, data requests, and overall development schedule and risk. | SAS will provide a yearly Program Review presentation identifying risks, schedule issues and a financial review. A “Go/No Go” decision will be made on full development based on technical, schedule or financial risks. | 1/15/2025 |
| 7. | AMU Proto-Flight Demonstration: Rideshare DEMO launch. | Completion of a proto-flight autonomous demonstration in orbit leveraging the Rideshare DEMO launch. | 02/15/2025 |
| 8. | SAS yearly Program Review #3: A yearly Program Review to present results on financial status, investments, data requests, and overall development schedule and risk. | SAS will provide a yearly Program Review presentation identifying risks, schedule issues and a financial review. | 12/15/2025 |
| 9. | MMU and SAFER Flight Data Review Presentation: SAS will perform a Flight Data Presentation. | SAS complete a flight data review and presentation on the on-orbit flight. | 02/15/2026 |
| 10. | SAS Yearly Program Management Review #4: A yearly Program Review to present results on financial status, investments, data requests, and overall development schedule and risk. | SAS will provide a yearly Program Review presentation identifying risks, schedule issues and a financial review. | 12/15/2026 |
| 11. | Design Certification-Block Upgrade Review and Safety Review: Perform a final Human Certification Review and Safety Review based on the successful completion of the Proto-Flight and evaluation of data. | SAS will present the Final Design Certification Review and System Safety Review following successful orbital protoflight demonstration. Approval to move to an astronaut assist mission would be considered a success criteria. | 02/15/2027 |
| 12. | Design Certification-Block Upgrade Review and Safety Review: Perform a final Design Certification-Block Upgrade Review and Safety Review based on the successful completion of the Proto-Flight and evaluation of post-flight data. | SAS will present the Final Design Certification Review and Proto-Flight Data Review | 10/15/2027 |
