Advanced Space anticipates the LiAISON algorithm, used to create CAPS, will enable a rich operational environment for NASA missions within cislunar space as well as other environments where similar field geometries can be exploited to create a local positioning system. There will always be a connection between Earth ground stations and exploratory missions. However, in environments equipped with a LiAISON-based network, that connection is no longer required for navigational purposes. In cislunar space, the specialized CAPS system would help to create a vibrant ecosystem of spacecraft whose navigation would be conducted entirely on-board and autonomously, operating on and around the Moon using a LiAISON-enabled GPS-like beacon. By improving the navigational capabilities of spacecraft in highly dynamic environments, LiAISON will have applications in robotic servicing, formation flying, constellation management, astrometric alignment, and other areas. In particular, Advanced Space expects the LiAISON approach to significantly support the goals of the Science Mission Directorate in moving toward smaller, more challenging missions in the highly dynamic environments. Particular missions and efforts may include (but are not limited to) New Worlds Observer, Lunar ground operations and sample return, and the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). LiAISON may permit missions that were previously impossible or not realistic without a regional positioning system to reference.
Companies and agencies interested in constructing spacecraft systems to operate in dynamic environments will have immense interest in LiAISON and LiAISON-based networks. NASA, along with other government agencies and private entities such as ESA, JAXA, ULA, and Google Lunar X-Prize teams, already demand technologies that enable enhanced science measurement capabilities using smaller and lower-cost spacecraft to meet multiple mission requirements.
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