Sidus Space, a multi-faceted Space and Data-as-a-Service satellite company, announced in conjunction with Arkisys, the successful completion of a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract deliverable and the achievement of flight heritage status for Arkisys Applique aboard LizzieSat-1. 

Arkisys is a creator of spacecraft architectures and platform solutions that open up in-space services. Arkisys integrated their Applique hardware with Sidus’ FeatherEdge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, enabling the successful completion of DIU contract deliverables.  The DIU, an organization within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), was established to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology solutions into the U.S. military by leveraging partnerships with innovative companies, particularly those in the commercial sector.

The Arkisys Applique is a universal interface adapter designed to connect various spacecraft payloads using common interface standards and protocols. The Applique enables secure connections of external payloads to the Arkisys Port’s systems, facilitating operations such as robotic arm manipulation, multispectral imaging, and synthetic aperture radar usage.

The Applique hardware, integrated with FeatherEdge, performed functional tests to run orbit propagation algorithms, monitor temperatures, and send/receive telemetry packets, images, and commands. The mission goal was to specifically test, validate, and mature the Applique design and architecture which will allow any customer payload or component to fly without having to modify their data or connector protocols. Arkisys plans to use the Applique for all future space missions to and from its Port Modules to support a variety of payload and customer goals.

“The success of this mission solidifies our position in the forefront of the space economy as an affordable and efficient means of integrating customer technology in our flexible multi-mission platform to allow advancement or maturity in Technology Readiness Level (TRL),” said Carol Craig, Sidus Space CEO and Founder.  “We congratulate Arkisys in achieving TRL 9, the highest readiness level indicating their technology is flight proven through successful mission operation in space.”

“I am extremely proud of the team at Arkisys for collaborating with the Sidus team to achieve space flight heritage for Applique!” said David Barnhart, CEO for Arkisys. “The Applique flown on Sidus Space’s LizzieSat-1 represents a major step in allowing anyone to connect on the ground, and in orbit. Arkisys is committed to supporting a new approach to optimization in space, where companies, academics, and governments can easily add new capabilities to payloads and spacecraft post-launch.  Our ‘universal data translator’ is now making space simple for anyone wanting to grow and extend life and revenue, after launch.” 

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