Skip to main content
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Spacecraft Technology And Research (STAR) Laboratory

General Overview

There are four research pillars that cross theory and application

  1. Exploring and exploiting spacecraft dynamics
  2. Advanced guidance, navigation, control and autonomy (GNCA)
  3. Real-time computationally aware optimization for spacecraft
  4. Immersive human-satellite interfaces

While the lab focuses on all four pillars for space applications, the primarily focuses on two domains: i) Rendezvous, Proximity Operations, and Docking (RPO), where two or more satellites fly within 500 km of one another, and ii.) eXtra Geostationary Orbit (XGEO) operations, where satellites fly past the Earth, the Moon, and beyond. 

The lab enjoys a healthy balance between theory and application in order to improve state-of-the-art space technology and to develop, design, and deploying self-driving satellites.