Sidus Space Inc (NASDAQ:SIDU) said it has successfully completed a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract deliverable in collaboration with Arkisys Inc.
The company achieved "flight heritage status" for Arkisys Applique, meaning that this hardware has demonstrated its functionality and reliability in space aboard the LizzieSat-1 satellite.
Arkisys, known for spacecraft architectures and platform solutions, integrated their Applique hardware with Sidus’ FeatherEdge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, enabling the successful completion of the DIU contract deliverables.
The DIU, an arm of the US Department of Defense (DoD), aims to accelerate the integration of commercial technology solutions into military operations.
The Arkisys Applique serves as a universal interface adapter, facilitating secure connections of external payloads to spacecraft systems. This enables various operations such as robotic arm manipulation, multispectral imaging, and synthetic aperture radar usage.
During functional tests, the Applique hardware integrated with FeatherEdge performed tasks including orbit propagation algorithms, temperature monitoring, and telemetry data transmission. This mission aimed to test, validate, and mature the Applique design and architecture, allowing seamless integration of customer payloads without the need for data or connector protocol modifications.
“The success of this mission solidifies our position in the forefront of the space economy as an affordable and efficient means of integrating customer technology in our flexible multi-mission platform to allow advancement or maturity in Technology Readiness Level (TRL),” said Carol Craig, Sidus Space CEO.
“We congratulate Arkisys in achieving TRL 9, the highest readiness level indicating their technology is flight proven through successful mission operation in space.”
David Barnhart, CEO of Arkisys, expressed pride in achieving flight heritage for Applique, emphasizing its role in simplifying space connectivity and enabling post-launch capabilities for various stakeholders.