Space is now a contested domain. Geosynchronous orbit and other high orbits have immense strategic value, and countries like China are building spacecraft capable of approaching, inspecting and interfering with other nations’ satellites. The infrastructure that connects, informs, and protects the world sits in an environment prone to conflict.
Astranis has announced Perceptor, a new space domain awareness and maneuverability solution operating in GEO and other high orbits. Perceptor expands Astranis’ offering beyond connectivity into a space infrastructure provider. Gaps in current space domain awareness capabilities may affect the US and its allies. Proliferated GEO is described as an area of focus in current capabilities.
“Astranis provides mission-critical infrastructure for strategic higher orbits. What we found is our means to detect and respond to emerging threats to this infrastructure are sorely lacking,” said John Gedmark, CEO and co-founder of Astranis. “There are blind spots that will be used against us if not eliminated. With Perceptor, we’re meeting the increasing demand for security in GEO with our proven on-orbit platform and ability to produce at scale.”
Perceptor Capabilities:
- Observe and Inspect. An onboard sensor suite means the spacecraft can assess objects and activity in orbit. Multi-angle flybys can assess spacecraft capabilities, help troubleshoot anomalies on friendly spacecraft, and provide additional observation capability in a domain where awareness has historically been limited.
- Maneuverability: Perceptor can both respond to nearby activity in real time and use its electric propulsion system to traverse the full GEO arc, repositioning dozens of times over its mission lifetime.
- Swarm Tactics. Proliferated spacecraft mean new tactics to counter attempts at evasion, with an approach that scales to meet the needs of the mission.
- Speed. Perceptor uses Astranis’s operational MicroGEO platform and is ready to be produced at scale, built on the same production line as satellites that are flying today.
Perceptor has been designed for both commercial and national security missions in GEO and other high orbits. It’s built on the same MicroGEO platform with five satellites already on orbit today, leveraging a previously deployed platform for critical in-space infrastructure.
