NASA has turned the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office into a division in response to the growth in satellite servicing demonstrations and projects as well as the need to coordinate servicing missions and implement technology development programs.The renamed Satellite Servicing Projects Division will be composed of three offices that include the satellite servicing enabling technologies, satellite servicing advanced concepts and the International Space Station payloads office, NASA said Monday.
The SSET office will oversee the development of technology platforms for in-space robotic servicing missions, while SSAC will manage the creation of technologies designed to meet in-space servicing requirements.
IPO will handle in-space servicing hardware development projects on the ISS that include the ISS Robotic External Leak Locator, Raven demonstration, Robotic Refueling Mission and Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer platforms.
SSCO “was the foundation that will allow us as a division to expand our technologies for multiple stakeholders – from on-orbit refueling to large aperture telescope assembly in space, and NASA’s Journey to Mars,†said Ben Reed, deputy division director for SSPD.
The division will also oversee the Restore-L Project that is responsible for the development of robotic platforms for the Restore-L mission, as well as the Asteroid Redirect Mission Capture Module Project that will manage the robotic spacecraft’s front end.
