NASA Small Spacecraft & Distributed Systems (SSDS) Program

Stories

Momentus tracks NASA satellite with low-cost AI sensors in orbital proximity test

As of October 2026: Operated the target R5-S10 CubeSat

Momentus proved it can track and characterize a NASA CubeSat in orbit using a sensor suite built from commercial off-the-shelf parts, not the expensive military-grade hardware that usually does this work. The company's Vigoride-7 Orbital Service Vehicle used optical cameras, a compact solid-state LiDAR unit, and onboard edge-computing microprocessors to run autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) in any lighting condition. Vigoride-7 launched in March 2026 aboard SpaceX's Transporter-16 rideshare mission, and the demonstration ran under a $1.86 million SpaceWERX contract from the U.S. Space Force's innovation arm.

Updated Oct 6

Manhole-cover satellites and a 5-month head start: Space Force’s DiskSat sprint signals “launch-on-demand” maturity

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Funded and manages the DiskSat tech demonstration workstream

Rocket Lab just put four "DiskSats" into orbit for the U.S. Space Force—flat, plate-like spacecraft about the size of a manhole cover. The launch showed that the U.S. can move a new satellite design from paperwork to space faster than most people plan a product launch.

Updated May 15