Precision Formation Alignment Navigation System

The Precision Formation Alignment Navigation System, or pFANtASY, is an integrated guidance and navigation subsystem for the acquisition and fine alignment of a dual spacecraft distributed science instrument mission. pFANtASY will acquire another spacecraft at up to 100m distance at 18 m down to 5-micron accuracy. This is achieved by a staggered set of instruments used for sensing illuminated spots on the target spacecraft. Initial acquisition is achieved with a camera-based acquisition mode that senses a set of illuminated beacons to 18m to 1 cm accuracy. Then a precise centration system comprised of a laser optic and quad-cell detector to sense relative position from 2 cm down to 20 micron accuracy. These sensor signals are ingested into navigation software to eliminate noise and produce the <5micron 3-sigma accuracy required. The components currently selected take an estimated 3 kg mass, 10 W power, and 4U volume but can be scaled to meet the needs of larger spacecraft.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_@id https://data.nasa.gov/data.json
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier TECHPORT_93258
issued 2018-09-01
landingPage https://techport.nasa.gov/view/93258
modified 2020-01-29
programCode {026:027}
publisher Space Technology Mission Directorate
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 14fc6337322d792fc8ce536be2f2e040152370bd
source_schema_version 1.1
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • active
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • geo
  • geoss
  • goddard-space-flight-center
  • national
  • north-america
  • united-states
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer TECHPORT SUPPORT
maintainer_email hq-techport@mail.nasa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-23T00:42:58.217227
metadata_modified 2025-11-23T00:42:58.217230
notes <p>The Precision Formation Alignment Navigation System, or pFANtASY, is an integrated guidance and navigation subsystem for the acquisition and fine alignment of a dual spacecraft distributed science instrument mission. pFANtASY will acquire another spacecraft at up to 100m distance at 18 m down to 5-micron accuracy. This is achieved by a staggered set of instruments used for sensing illuminated spots on the target spacecraft. Initial acquisition is achieved with a camera-based acquisition mode that senses a set of illuminated beacons to 18m to 1 cm accuracy. Then a precise centration system comprised of a laser optic and quad-cell detector to sense relative position from 2 cm down to 20 micron accuracy. These sensor signals are ingested into navigation software to eliminate noise and produce the &lt;5micron 3-sigma accuracy required. The components currently selected take an estimated 3 kg mass, 10 W power, and 4U volume but can be scaled to meet the needs of larger spacecraft.</p>
num_resources 4
num_tags 10
title Precision Formation Alignment Navigation System