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System F6

Program Manager: Mr. Paul Eremenko

System F6 (Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying Spacecraft United by Information Exchange) will demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of a satellite architecture wherein the functionality of a traditional monolithic spacecraft is replaced by a cluster of wirelessly-interconnected spacecraft modules. Each fractionated module will contribute a unique capability, e.g., computation and data handling, communications relay, guidance and navigation, payload sensing, etc., or it can replicate the capability of another module.

The fractionated modules will fly in a loose, proximate cluster orbit either in LEO or GEO. A robust, system-level approach to information assurance is a key aspect of the architecture. Together, F6 modules create a virtual satellite, delivering comparable mission capability of a monolithic spacecraft, while significantly enhancing functional and programmatic flexibility and robustness, reducing risk through the mission life and spacecraft development cycle, and enabling incremental deployment of the system. The System F6 architecture will provide valuable options to decision makers throughout the life cycle development of future space systems that are absent today.

The F6 program will culminate in an on-orbit demonstration of a multi-module space system incorporating the F6 Technology Package—a suite of technologies, components, and algorithms which enables autonomous multi-body orbital rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and real-time, fault-tolerant distributed spacecraft avionics. The F6 Technology Package is designed to be easily integrated with most spacecraft buses to enable them to share resources and engage in cooperative cluster flight.

The on-orbit demonstration will include one or more payload modules supplied by third-party stakeholders. Component replacement, resource sharing, and a defensive cluster scatter maneuver will be demonstrated in the course of the demo. Residual capability to support future payloads with the existing on-orbit infrastructure will also remain, and the infrastructure can be upgraded indefinitely for a perpetual on-orbit resource capability.