As Project Elara’s technology is fundamentally based in space, a high degree of reliability and automation is required for all of its hardware. As detailed in A realistic space-based prototype, our proposed spacecraft will require most or all of the below technologies:
- Automatic mirror deployment (unfolding)
- Automatic alignment and orbital correction
- Automatic altitude control with:
- Zero-drag monitoring
- Constellation control and management
- Remote monitoring and analytics
- (Possibly) nuclear batteries/RTGs
Development of the robotic spacecraft is conceptual-only for now, as space launches are unlikely to happen until the funds for doing so are made available. However, creating a detailed design that can eventually be built is an achievable (though still ambitious) goal, and is the primary objective for now.
Resources
- NASA’s space mission design tools
- Copernicus spacecraft trajectory design software
poliastrolibrary for Python-based orbital planning- NASA’s
fprimelibraries which are an open-source SDK for spacecraft robotics development - NASA’s GMAT for planning spacecraft missions
- NASA’s SSRI knowledge base