CPOD
CPOD
CPOD
CPOD
CPOD
CPOD
Spacecraft name CPOD
Form factor CubeSat
Units or mass 3U
Organisation Tyvak
Institution Company
Entity Commercial
Nation US
Manufacturer AIVT by Terran Orbital
Partners 406 Aerospace, Applied Defense Solutions, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)
Oneliner

Demonstrate proximity operations and docking between CubeSats.

Description

Demonstrate proximity operations from various distances, approach scenarios, and lighting conditions: nominal operating distances: 50 m to 2 km, full range of distances: 0.5 m to 25 km. Demonstrate docking between two vehicles. Safely approach and make contact between test vehicles.

A combination of radio frequency licensing obstacles, propulsion system issues discovered and subsequently reworked by the manufacturer (VACCO Industries), and rideshare launch vehicle delays, the vehicles ultimately launched in May 2022. As such, despite the recent launch date, the vehicles feature previous-generation hardware, missing out on seven years of hardware upgrades and refinements. On the other hand, the vehicles could accept software upgrades with comparative ease, and thus flew Terran’s state of the art GNC software. CPOD ultimately achieved rendezvous and passively safe formation flying. Docking was not exercised due to fuel depletion brought about by challenges associated with the outdated hardware. Operations concluded in May 2023 and the vehicles were decommissioned in June 2023.

Results

CPOD ultimately achieved rendezvous and passively safe formation flying. Docking was not exercised due to fuel depletion brought about by challenges associated with the outdated hardware. Operations concluded in May 2023 and the vehicles were decommissioned in June 2023.

Key Accomplishments

Key Lesson Learned

Reduced Solar Power Generation

Disturbances from Cold Gas Prop System

The CPOD mission ultimately achieved autonomous rendezvous of a 3U CubeSat to an RSO using its RPO architecture. On-orbit experiments specifically validated an SCP algorithm for exceptionally fuel efficient semi-autonomous rendezvous from long distances, a nonlinear MPC algorithm for fully autonomous rendezvous, and a linear MPC algorithm for ingress to a passively safe flying formation.

The limiting factors in on-orbit experiments stemmed largely from hardware systems that were obsolete at launch due to many years of logistical launch delay. The experience of confronting these challenges in the years preceding CPOD launch generated insights into pain points that have improved subsequent missions. Additionally, while the on-orbit hardware challenges limited the scope of experiments, they also stress-tested the robustness of the RPO architecture and revealed its strong disturbance rejection capabilities.

Marked as Failure in the NASA SmallSat/CubeSat Fleet Missions Database.

Sources [1] [2] [3] [4]
Photo sources [1] [2] [3] [4]
COTS subsystems
  • PLATFORM - Tyvak
Keywords Propulsion, Docking, Formation flying

Related Spacecraft

Name Status Rocket Launch date Orbit
CPOD A (TYVAK-0032, FLT1, Cubesat Proximity Operations Demonstration, PONSFD-A, Proximity Operations Nano-Satellite Flight Demonstration, NASA CUBESAT PROXOPS) Was operational until 2023-06-XX. (Decommissioned after concluding operations in May 2023 as per SmallSat 2023 presentation) Falcon 9, (Transporter-5) 2022-05-25 530 km, 97.5 deg, SSO
CPOD B (TYVAK-0212, FLT2, Cubesat Proximity Operations Demonstration, PONSFD-B, Proximity Operations Nano-Satellite Flight Demonstration, NASA CUBESAT PROXOPS) Was operational until 2023-06-XX. (Decommissioned after concluding operations in May 2023 as per SmallSat 2023 presentation) Falcon 9, (Transporter-5) 2022-05-25 530 km, 97.5 deg, SSO

Last modified: 2023-12-26

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Created by Erik Kulu

Email: erik.kulu@nanosats.eu
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erikkulu

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