LOGAN, Utah — Ascending Node Technologies unveiled mission-visualization software Aug. 5 at the SmallSat conference here.
The software, called Spaceline, is a web-based suite of data analysis and visualization tools designed to improve collaboration from mission design through operations and post-mission review.
NASA’s Aspera mission was the first test for Spaceline. Aspera, a 60-kilogram satellite to study the evolution of galaxies, is scheduled for launch to low-Earth orbit in 2026.
“Our University of Arizona space team is thrilled to be working with Ascending Node Technologies and leading NASA’s Aspera astrophysics mission that seeks to solve the mysteries surrounding how galaxies evolve and obtain fuel for the formation of stars,” Carlos Vargas, University of Arizona astronomer and Aspera principal investigator, said in a statement. “Spaceline is a mission-critical tool that’s enabling us to simulate, collaborate, and walk through multiple precision iterations of the operation years before we launch.”
Collaboration Conundrum
Ascending Node Technologies’ founders came up with the idea for Spaceline while working on NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer, OSIRIS-REx, mission.
“Our team was all over the world and it was difficult getting everybody’s geometries and data synchronized to collaborate effectively,” Sanford Selznick, Ascending Node Technologies chief software architect, told SpaceNews. “The solution back then was similar to Dropbox, where people would drop files in. For a mission that size, you’re talking thousands of files, naming conventions that weren’t adhered to and formats coming from left field.”
Selznick, OSIRIS-REx senior science data processing lead, joined forces with Carl Hergenrother, OSIRIS-REx Astronomy Working Group lead, and John Kidd, OSIRIS-Rex senior science operations planning engineer, to form Ascending Node Technologies in 2018.
“We developed software that could run on the web and allow teams from all over the world to share their information and see their results almost immediately,” Selznick said. “We knew we’d need a pretty intense server architecture, a first-class website and tons of security.”
Spaceline helps people “control data inputs, inspect data, collaborate and make judgments to improve their plan,” Selznick said. “If you don’t have this crystal-ball-like things, you’re going to end up building a lot of stuff from scratch.”
NASA Small Business Innovation Research awards have funded Spaceline development and testing. A recent SBIR award helped Ascending Node Technologies expand Spaceline to allow “hundreds of users” to simultaneously analyze, iterate and discuss mission simulations and flight data, according to the news release.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Spaceline applications are not limited to small satellite missions.
“We routinely tested Spaceline against the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and OSIRIS-REx,” Selznick said. “We can handle hundreds of maneuvers and attitude changes a day without any issues whatsoever.”
Support for large missions is thanks, in part, to Amazon Web Services. Ascending Node Technologies joined the AWS Partner Network in 2023.
