NASA has facilitated a meeting between spaceflight experts from multiple agencies to address technical challenges associated with the assembly of large structures in space.The space agency said Thursday the technology interchange meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was the third in a series of discussions between members of the Science and Technology Partnership Forum, which includes NASA, the U.S. Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office.
“Many tough space technology problems are really important to multiple federal stakeholders — in-space assembly is an excellent example where multiple federal players have a vested interest in mission success,” said NASA Chief Technologist Douglas Terrier.
He added that the collaboration of multi-agency experts will help the government address technology challenges “at reduced costs, increased efficiency and faster than previously possible.”
Thirty experts joined the in-space assembly meeting and held discussions within smaller teams to identify synergies, development gaps and pilot projects for interagency partnerships.
The group will hold additional meetings to establish the project and partnerships, with the next one scheduled for September.
Participating agencies may eventually share resulting information from the technical discussions with U.S. industry and academic partners, NASA noted.
Previous interagency meetings focused on small satellites, data analysis and cybersecurity while future discussions will cover other technological challenges such as assured access to space.
