NASA Funds Colorado-Based Special Aerospace Services for New Astronaut Jetpack
At long last, astronaut jetpacks may be coming back into style, with NASA funding a new project called the autonomous maneuvering unit. In 1984, three NASA space shuttle missions tested an astronaut propulsion unit called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allowed crews to do spacewalks some distance from their vehicle. It was used several times on test runs and to successfully retrieve two communication satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2, following failed attempts to use the MMU to capture the Solar Maximum Mission satellite on another mission.
A previous jetpack developed by the US Air Force, called the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU), was supposed to be used by NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan during Gemini 9A on June 5, 1966, but the orbital test never took place. Cernan was doing an extravehicular activity, back when our understanding of such things was in its infancy, and ended up overheating from working with a lack of handholds and other grappling tools — now commonplace on spacewalks — before the AMU test could take place.
Now, NASA is revisiting the AMU concept, working with Colorado-based Special Aerospace Services (SAS) on an autonomous maneuvering unit (AMU) and an astronaut-assist AMU destined for “commercial in-space servicing” and “safer assembly of commercial low Earth orbit destinations, servicing, retrieval, and inspection of in-space systems,” according to an agency press release. A photo included in the release shows an AMU being tested on the ground, with the tester wearing it like a backpack. Both robotic and human-worn forms of the device appear to be funded, per agency materials. So far, details on how the robotic and human versions will be used, such as whether they’ll be used for the same type of or different tasks, however, are scarce.
NASA is funding SAS as part of a Space Act Agreement under the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC-2) initiative. The initiative was “designed to advance commercial space-related efforts through NASA contributions of technical expertise, assessments, lessons learned, technologies, and data,” according to NASA materials.
“This agreement is critical in providing expertise, historical data, lessons learned, and access to NASA personnel in order for SAS to accelerate our commercial development of the AMU technology,” Tim Bulk, the company’s chief technical officer and co-founder, said in an SAS announcement. The contract follows three years of related work, including prototypes of the AMU technology alongside in-space servicing technology, propulsion, and robotics.
The previous CCSC-1 funded initiatives such as SpaceX’s Starship and the United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur launching systems. These rockets haven’t yet achieved spaceflight, but Starship made an attempt in April and Vulcan Centaur (following delays for several reasons) is expected to fly no earlier than the last quarter of 2023.
SAS, which did not answer media requests, describes itself as “a tactical engineering and advanced manufacturing firm.” The company has manufactured space and avionics systems, along with spacecraft prototypes and components, according to its website. SAS has worked with NASA, the Department of Defense, and commercial space companies. It was founded in 2007 and employs approximately 100 people.
The company rarely releases information on past contracts, but in 2020 it noted it made a new assembly area for its SAS Flight Factory subsidiary to increase manufacturing capability. “This allows for production flow of spacecraft assemblies, launch system components, aircraft subsystems, and optical assemblies,” the company said in a release at the time.
SAS has also won numerous medium-sized NASA contracts, according to agency records. These include services or products for autonomous launch vehicle interfaces, test and launch operations, engine technology, and external payload carriers for launch services.
