NASA teams up with Arx Pax to find a way to manipulate tiny satellites called cubesats without actually touching them. The California-based company, Arx Pax, has developed a real-life hoverboard using a technology called Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA). Unfortunately, there won’t be any astronauts landing tricks in space. The team plans to use this technology in the hopes of developing a new device to control satellites, meaning they won’t have to bump into each other when needing to pair up and used for data, imaging and other applications.
NASA AND ARX PAX COLLABORATE
The collaboration between NASA and Arx Pax is one of a Space Act Agreement (SAA), announced yesterday in a press release. “The device will draw as well as repel satellites at the same time, meaning it will hold a satellite at a distance and won’t allow it to move away or toward the capture device. This hoverboard tech will enable the capture and possibly manipulate micro-satellites or other objects without making physical contact with them,” Arx Pax representatives said in the statement.
CUBESAT USED FOR SPACE RESEARCH
Cubesats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites, according to NASA. They are part of NASA’s Cubesat Launch initiative, which provides opportunities for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned for upcoming launches. The cubesats are piggybacked as auxiliary payloads on earlier planned missions.
USING MAGNETIC FIELD ARCHITECTURE
The technology company Arx Pax invented the patented technology and its hover engines. The hover engines generate directional thrust between an electric engine and a passive conductive surface such as copper or aluminum. This has proved an efficient way to transmit electromagnetic energy. The initial proof of concept for MFA was the Hendo Hoverboard, launched in October 2014. The MFA technology used in space could also allow satellites to dock with less mutual risk.
HOVERBOARD CONCLUSIONS
The device Arx Pax and NASA will potentially develop would enhance propulsion systems of micro-satellites. The focus on micro-satellites may reflect the growing role played by cubesats in the space industry. Arx PAx plans to co-develop a prototype with NASA over the next few years.The potential for the future device beyond this is far reaching, according to Arx Pax. Marty McFly’s hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II may help researchers of the future after all.
