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OSAM-2

NASA and its partners are developing robotic technologies to rapidly, efficiently and autonomously manufacture and assemble hardware, components and tools in space. Lead developer Made In Space Inc. of Mountain View, California, and additional partners will deliver that technology, using additive manufacturing – better known as 3D printing – to build and assemble complex components in space, deliver on-demand hardware and allow for structures larger than those any current rocket can haul to orbit.

In 2019, NASA awarded a contract to Made In Space to demonstrate this capability in orbit with a spacecraft roughly the size of a refrigerator. The technology demonstration, previously called Archinaut One, will build, assemble and deploy its own operational solar array. The NASA and Made In Space partnership is now referred to as OSAM-2, a more comprehensive name that stands for On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing. Vertex Aerospace is also providing thermal analysis and design support to NASA’s OSAM-1 mission that is developing complementary technologies.

Once deployed and positioned in orbit, the small spacecraft will 3D print two beams that extend nearly 33 feet from each side of the spacecraft. As it continues to manufacture the hardware, these beams will unfurl solar arrays that can generate up to five times more power than traditional solar panels on similar-sized spacecraft.

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Skybox Imaging, Inc.

Vertex Aerospace was contracted by Skybox Imaging, Inc., a commercial satellite company on the West Coast, to develop a thermal design and perform thermal analysis on their Earth Imaging Satellite.

  • Post-CDR Thermal Design and Analysis
  • Thermal Vacuum / Thermal Balance Test Support
  • Thermal Model Correlation

BLACKSKY

Vertex Aerospace was contracted by Blacksky/Spaceflight Industries to perform thermal analysis for its first two Earth-imaging spacecraft, Global-1 and -2 prior to launch in Nov/Dec 2018.

  • Global-1 was launched Nov. 28, 2018 from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Center aboard a PSLV launch vehicle.
  • Global-2 was launched the following week on Dec. 3, 2018 on Spaceflight’s SSO-A mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Woodward

Vertex Aerospace was contracted by a commercial engineering company in the Mid-West to develop a thermal design, perform thermal analysis and develop a prototype to support the thermal control of an Aircraft Electronics Module.

SAFT Battery

Vertex Aerospace was contracted by SAFT Battery to perform thermal analysis for the GOES-R Lithium Ion Battery in preparation for the GOES-R Critical Design Review (CDR). Vertex Aerospace reviewed the GOES-R battery requirements, worked with the SAFT mechanical/thermal engineers and implemented the current design details in the Thermal Desktop model. Vertex Aerospace post-processed the temperature and heat flow adata and included the results in a Thermal Design Report.