"NASA's Starling Mission: Unleashing an Autonomous Satellite Swarm"
NASA's Starling mission will launch a group of four CubeSats into Earth's orbit to test autonomous cooperation among small satellites, paving the way for future deep space missions. The CubeSats will operate in two formations, testing technologies for swarm maneuver planning, communications networking, relative navigation, and autonomous coordination. The mission aims to establish a swarm of small satellites capable of functioning autonomously, collecting scientific data from multiple points in space, and operating spacecraft systems without constant contact with Earth. After the primary mission, Starling will collaborate with SpaceX's Starlink to test advanced space traffic management techniques.