CMU To Send Group of Satellites Into Orbit To Test Low-Cost Autonomous Swarming

The experiment is funded through a NASA Small Spacecraft Technology program grant, led by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. PY4 builds on Manchester’s previous satellite swarm mission, V-R3x. That mission, launched in January 2021 also in partnership with the Small Spacecraft Technology program, placed three small satellites into orbit to test commercial, off-the-shelf radio transceivers that enable networking and navigation. This technology demonstration aims to show that a group of low-cost small satellites provide the same functionality as larger, more costly spacecraft. The satellites orbit the Earth, passing over the poles at about 15,660 miles per hour (7 kilometers per second).