NASA Elevates Starling Swarm Science Goals: Discover What’s Next!

NASA is taking exciting steps with its new satellite project called Starling. They are testing how satellites can work together without needing instructions from humans. This project, known as Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), began with four Starling cubesats between August 2023 and May 2024.

These satellites are using their onboard GPS to gather valuable data about Earth’s ionosphere. They can prioritize important observations, share information, and coordinate their positions all by themselves.

Recently, NASA sent new instructions aimed at increasing the scientific value of the mission. Caleb Adams, the program manager at NASA Ames Research Center, shared that they are moving beyond just tech tests. They want to show that satellites can perform complex scientific calculations and make decisions on their own.

Nikki Adams noted that NASA aims to enhance satellite autonomy to support “opportunistic science.” This means that satellites can take advantage of unexpected occurrences for scientific observations. For instance, if a satellite spots a gas plume on a moon of Jupiter, it could tell other satellites to focus on that area for further study.

In scenarios like the outer solar system, some events happen so fast that human intervention isn’t practical. An autonomous satellite can react quickly without waiting for commands. Closer to Earth, these satellites can also help during natural disasters by coordinating with one another to monitor events effectively.

The Starling satellites work as a swarm, meaning that if one satellite fails, the mission can still continue. Adams highlighted last year’s achievement of a fully autonomous distributed space mission. The satellites could set broad goals and adapt to changes in their environment independently.

While many satellite constellations need some input from their ground teams, Starling satellites operate mostly on their own. If one satellite detects a change that requires a new plan, it can update the others almost instantly—in just two to six seconds!