The original end-of-life scenario is to leave both ASTRO and NextSat left in trajectories with no possibility of re-contact, with both of these orbits naturally decaying within 25 years. Coupled with the fact that since the spacecraft had approximately 88% of its original propellant left and that there is a desire to further characterize the sensors, additional mission objectives are integrated into the nominal end-of-life trajectory. Three trajectory options are proposed: N1, N2, and N3. N2 is selected and executed on 17 July 2007.

In order to decommission the spacecraft, the remaining hydrazine had to be depleted. Since NextSat had no independent means to deplete propellant (no thrusters or overboard vents), the first stage of this depletion required a transfer of the majority of the propellant in the NextSat fluid transfer tank to the ASTRO propulsion tank. This is performed prior to the final separation of ASTRO from NextSat. After minimizing the quantity of hydrazine on NextSat, the remaining propellant and pressurant (helium) is vented overboard. Finally, the fluid coupler is demated to prepare for unmated operations. This operation requires mating and demating the fluid coupler one last time, which satisfies the requirement for Fluid Transfer test F24, which was designed to meet a mission success criterion (goal) to demonstrate that the fluid coupler operates properly at end of life.

Demate for end-of-life scenario N2 occurs as scheduled on 17 July 2007 at 03:41:00 UTC over the COOK tracking station. Corridor separation is nominal. ASTRO performs the first of five departure phasing maneuvers at a range of about 110 meters. At about 10 km, the pointing sequencer commands ASTRO into long-range tracking mode. Four additional phasing maneuvers, at a trajectory beyond 300 km, are nominal. About 47 minutes prior to reaching the v-bar, the guidance sequencer changes modes to start targeting the height adjust burn. Ten minutes prior to initiating the height adjust burn, the pointing sequencer changes pointing modes so that ASTRO is commanded to align its thrust vector in the appropriate direction as planned. Just after this thrust align maneuver is complete, the decision is made to delay the return portion of the trajectory and to keep separating. To abort the height adjust maneuver, a coast command is issued to keep separating the two spacecraft while also guiding them in a target track mode. The spacecraft continued to separate as the ground watches. The decision is then made to resume the original trajectory at the next v-bar crossing past a range of 400 km. A return command is issued and ASTRO performs a maneuver to begin the rendezvous with NextSat.

A coelliptic maneuver follows the height adjust burn to target an ASTRO orbit 7 km below NextSat's orbit. Upon reaching a range of approximately 40 km, the guidance sequencer targets a range of one kilometer on the v-bar. Once reaching one kilometer, standoff is initiated.

Early in standoff lap two, the laser range finder (LRF) fails. This failure degrades the range estimate, but the range estimate accuracy from VS1 and IR measurements are sufficient to continue the standoff. After four laps around the standoff racetrack, DARPA directs Boeing engineers to maneuver to 500 meters on the v-bar in front of NextSat. A new set of mission parameters are uploaded to the spacecraft and a command initiates a series of maneuvers to achieve the desired target location. The maneuvers are not nominal. However, since all mission success criteria have been met, the decision is made to terminate the mission. A disposal trajectory, designed into the existing set of guidance parameters to adjust the height and raise the ASTRO orbit 15 km above NextSat's orbit, is activated. Once at 15 km above NextSat, two burns are initiated to steer ASTRO on a corkscrew trajectory. ASTRO then enters a coast guidance mode while still processing measurements. The last VS1 measurement observed is at a range of 506 kilometers -- well beyond the 200 km range expected prior to launch.

Boeing mission control engineers begin dumping propellant and decommissioning both spacecraft when ASTRO reaches an estimated range of 1000 km from NextSat. This occurs on 20 July 2007 at 09:07:00 UTC.

The NextSat shutdown/decommissioning sequence is uploaded successfully at 22:33Z on July 20, 2007. The NextSat end-of-life sequence was commanded to execute and begins execution at 23:00Z during the 2041.2 BOSS pass. The NextSat Technical Advisor reports that NextSat is successfully safed and the electrical power system is configured to disable battery charging. The predicted time of complete power depletion is 08:52Z on July 21, 2007. There would be two additional blind acquisition attempts executed the following day to confirm spacecraft decommissioning.

ASTRO propellant is completely depleted over the course of the next two days. After the propellant is completely depleted, a corrupted software load called a poison pill is uploaded to the spacecraft. At 2007:203:20:29 UTC, the command is sent to execute the poison pill. Mission operations ends when all contact with the spacecraft ceases, confirming its decommissioning.

100% of mission success criteria have been achieved.

Update 07/13/07 -- Orbital Express successfully completed its final scenario Monday July 2, when it successfully re-installed the computer ORU and verified that it worked after the removal and reinstallation. This event marked completion of Scenario 8, the Design Reference Mission, and the completion of the DARPA portion of the Orbital Express mission.

The scenario was composed of several operations- an unmated segment followed by propellant transfer, battery, and computer replacement activities, and spanned a total of 5 days. The scenario required ASTRO to separate from NextSat to a distance of 7 kilometers, then return, perform a forced motion fly around inspection, and finally approach and grapple the NextSat with the robotic arm. Using only its onboard cameras and advanced video guidance system, ASTRO performed all separation and subsequent rendezvous maneuvers flawlessly. ASTRO them moved to within 1 meter of NextSat and reached out with the robotic arm and successfully grappled it. Scenario 7, completed several days previously, had marked the first time that a robotic arm was used to autonomously capture another spacecraft, and proved the capability which had initially been planned for demonstration in Scenario 3-1 in early May.

Following the grapple and subsequent berthing of ASTRO, a propellant transfer followed by 2 battery transfers was autonomously executed. These transfers were completed and the computer ORU transfer was performed beginning Saturday, and finishing Monday when the computer was reinstalled on ASTRO, and verified to be operational after installation. An anomaly was experienced when first trying to reinsert the computer, but it was rapidly resolved by the operations team.

"With the completion of Scenario 8, we have finished the DARPA mission," said Bob Friend, the Orbital Express Chief Systems Engineer and Program Manager. "This team is incredible. With the successful completion of these operations, we have met 100% of our mission success requirements."

Update 07/13/07 -- For the first time in history, a satellite autonomously used its robotic arm to rendezvous with and capture another satellite in space, paving the way for future space servicing operations. This innovative on-orbit mechanic called ASTRO (Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations) was designed and built by The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA]. As part of The Boeing Orbital Express system, ASTRO successfully demonstrates advanced on-orbit satellite refueling and reconfiguration capabilities with NextSat, a prototype satellite developed by Ball Aerospace. ASTRO, the robotic, on-orbit spacecraft mechanic, successfully captured NextSat with its robotic arm on Saturday, June 23, marking an industry first. Orbital Express is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program, designed to validate on-orbit satellite servicing technologies.

ASTRO is capable of autonomously docking to, inspecting, servicing, de-orbiting and relocating satellites in space. This unmanned on-orbit operation will significantly extend the life, operation and cost of various types of spacecraft.

The next major mission milestone will be Scenario 8 where ASTRO will demonstrate its tracking, rendezvous and servicing capabilities. Departing NextSat to a range of seven kilometers, ASTRO will rendezvous and mate to NextSat to transfer propellant and batteries. The scenario will be performed at full autonomy levels with a single command, and no required ground "approval to proceed" confirmations.

The integrated systems to perform orbital operations include electrical, command and data handling, flight control and attitude and propulsion control. Components include rendezvous sensors, an autonomous fluid transfer unit and the robotic arm used to grab spacecraft and to transfer batteries, electronics and fluids.

"In addition to demonstrating autonomous arm operations, the ability to perform a free flyer capture is important because it gives potential servicing customers options for a servicing vehicle's approach and capture of their spacecraft," said Bob Friend, the Orbital Express Chief Systems Engineer and Program Manager. "I am very proud of the OE team. With the completion of this mission, we have nearly met all our mission success objectives. The remainder of the mission objectives will be met in Scenario 8."

Orbital Express team members include NASA, Ball Aerospace, Northrop Grumman Space Technology, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., and Starsys Research.

Update 06/17/07 -- After a four-week hiatus in unmated operations that was used to analyze flight data and determine fixes for some of the problems experienced in Scenario 3-1, Orbital Express successfully completed Scenario 5-1, another industry first demonstrating a fully autonomous fly-around and capture of the NextSat client spacecraft on Saturday, June 16.

Using only the onboard cameras and advanced video guidance system, ASTRO separated from the NextSat, backed away to a distance of 120 meters, flew around the NextSat, and then approached along the minus Rbar, and captured NextSat with its capture mechanism.

This marks the first time that a fly-around of another spacecraft was performed using primarily passive sensors, and with no active exchange of relative navigation information, and no intervention or control from the ground. This was also our first unmated operation since the 3-1 Scenario in mid-May where we had an anomaly during the unmated portion of the operations. This scenario was important for several reasons. For future scenarios, we verified that many of the issues that we experienced in the 3-1 scenario anomaly recovery operations had been fixed. For satellite servicing in general, we demonstrated that one could successfully perform an autonomous fly-around inspection of the client using passive sensors and without exchanging relative navigation information. We also demonstrated that a minus Rbar approach is practical. This type of approach is desired by many potential clients because it allows the servicing spacecraft to approach the client without needing the client to slew away from the earth, which would cause a loss of service because the antennas would no longer be pointed properly.

As in previous scenarios, ASTRO and NextSat began the scenario in Mated Nominal mode. At roughly 3:50 AM MDT on 6/16, ASTRO's autonomous systems performed all the operations required to separate from NextSat to a range of up to 120 meters. ASTRO then flew around NextSat using the ARCSS sensors to continuously track the NextSat during the fly-around. If sensor or navigation systems limits had been violated, an autonomous abort would have been performed to maneuver to a safe location, as happened when the sensor computer experienced a problem in Scenario 3-1.

After completing the fly-around, ASTRO station kept with NextSat at 120 meters for 17 minutes, then maneuvered to the minus Rbar "above" NextSat and performed a corridor approach to within the NextSat capture box. The capture mechanism then grasped NextSat and performed a standard direct capture.

The demonstrations occurred at full spacecraft autonomy requiring no ground-based "approval to proceed" confirmations. Our next major unmated operation will be Scenario 7-1, currently scheduled for 6/22, where ASTRO will depart NextSat to a range of 4 kilometers on the minus Vbar, then approach and perform a free flyer capture, using the robotic arm to grapple and berth NextSat.

Update 5/30/07 -- After review of Scenario 3-1 recovery operations against Scenario 6 objectives and mission success criteria, DARPA and Boeing decided to waive performing this scenario, since the primary objective was to fly out to 1 kilometer and return. The recovery in Scenario 3-1 was a completely autonomous rendezvous from >2km. The fly around objective for Scenario 6 was moved to Scenario 7.

Update 5/30/07 -- After review of Scenario 3-1 recovery operations against Scenario 4 objectives and mission success criteria, DARPA and Boeing decided to waive performing this scenario, since the primary objective was to fly to 60 meters and determine that we could accurately fire the laser range finder.

Update 5/22 -- The Orbital Express ASTRO spacecraft successfully captured the NextSat spacecraft on Saturday, May 19, concluding an anomaly response effort that had occurred over the past week.

When performing Scenario 3-1 on May 11, ASTRO experienced a failure of the primary sensor computer. Scenario 3-1 is a mission objective that involved ASTRO releasing NextSat, departing to 30 meters, and returning to perform a free flyer capture of NextSat with the robotic arm. When the computer failed, ASTRO attempted to reboot it twice. When that was unsuccessful, ASTRO autonomously aborted to 120 meters and began station keeping relative to NextSat. Ground controllers began efforts to bring the backup sensor computer on line; that were successful. However, at that point, the relative navigation state (the ASTRO estimate of where NextSat was) had reached a point that made it imperative to increase the distance between the two spacecraft to ensure they would not collide.

Subsequent actions taken by ground controllers resulted in ASTRO ending up in a passively safe orbit approximately 6 kilometers in front of NextSat. Over the next several days, the mission control team evaluated several options to recover. The team would allow ASTRO to slowly drift back toward NextSat, and begin a re-rendezvous and capture. Rather than performing a free flyer capture, a direct capture was performed, as was successfully performed on Scenario 2-1.

This rendezvous and capture was made more difficult because the original mission plan had been based upon a building block approach that would allow gradual characterization of the sensor systems, and allowed for minor changes to account for discoveries in performance on orbit versus ground test. Since this did not happen, several limitations were discovered in the system that made it very difficult to find NextSat. Once found, however, ASTRO successfully tracked NextSat on a nearly continuous basis with its infrared camera and laser range finder beginning at a point outside 4 kilometers.

On May 19, the ground team uploaded a scenario description to ASTRO and the spacecraft began the rendezvous process. At that point, the relative separation distance between ASTRO and NextSat was approximately 2 kilometers. Once the scenario started and operating purely on the infrared camera and laser rangefinder due to limitations with the visible light cameras, ASTRO autonomously determined the necessary burns required to reach the various targeted station keeping points on the trajectory and began the rendezvous.

As ASTRO got closer to NextSat during the rendezvous, it activated other sensors to improve its navigation during the approach. At 140 meters range the AVGS, a sensor provided by NASA, was activated and during the final portions of the approach, the wide field of view visible light camera was also activated. These sensors, working in concert, allowed ASTRO to complete the operations as originally designed. Approximately 8 hours after starting the recovery scenario, ASTRO successfully reached the approach corridor and flew in to achieve a perfect direct capture of NextSat.

"I am very proud of the Orbital Express team", said Bob Friend, the Orbital Express program manager and chief engineer. "This was a pretty impressive accomplishment. The spacecraft executed a scenario from a nearly arbitrary point in space in relation to the client and concluded with a capture of the client satellite. This anomaly has turned out to be an event that allowed us, admittedly in an unplanned way, to show that one of the most difficult problems in satellite servicing is feasible. Namely, when given a client state vector, can you successfully find and rendezvous with the client?" he noted. "What we demonstrated was that, yes, you could find it, and when found perform an autonomous rendezvous and capture under extremely stressing lighting conditions. No one has ever done that before, so once again, we made history."

At roughly 6 pm MST, Boeing engineers command the spacecraft to begin performing Scenario 2-1. Scenario 2-1 is to be the first unmated operation where the two spacecraft depart to ten meters. It is at this distance that ASTRO will station-keep until communication constraints are met. Once the constraints are met, the ASTRO performs the final approach and capture. The entire operation is performed at Autonomy Level 4. It is at this level that ground control simply witnesses the operation. At the predicted time, 11:22 pm, ASTRO separates from NextSat and begins to back away to ten meters. ASTRO station-keeps exactly as predicted and returns down the corridor to capture NextSat within two minutes of predicted time of capture. ASTRO uses approximately 50% of predicted propellant allocated for the operation. Boeing engineers and the management team are elated to witness the flawless operation from beginning to end, setting the bar exponentially higher for all subsequent operations.

Scenario 1 is determined to be officially completed. Engineers complete all spacecraft uploads required for the unmated operation, and complete all preparatory checks. Boeing holds a Test Management Board to determine readiness and receives the go-ahead from the board to proceed with Scenario 2-1.

Boeing begins to transfer fluid from ASTRO to NextSat and back. However, when the fluid transfer is initiated a minor anomaly occurs. This anomaly, while not involved in the fluid transfer system, aborts the fluid transfer operation. With the first unmated operation rapidly approaching, the engineering team elects not to perform the fluid transfers and focus instead on preparing for the unmated Scenario 2-1.

Scenario 1-1 ARCSS checkout is complete, verifying that all sensor systems are working correctly and are ready to support the first unmated operation. An anomaly occurs when NextSat is in the berthing position, when the arm attempts but fails to release the NextSat. Boeing engineers decide to not proceed any further until they are able to fully evaluate the next procedure. The evening of 4/28, the engineering team successfully resolves the anomaly and proceeds to mate NextSat to ASTRO.

Boeing successfully completes Scenario 1-3. ASTRO transfers its battery to NextSat in the industry's first fully autonomous battery transfer operation. No ATPs are required.

ASTRO completed Scenario 1-2 and transferred a battery back from NextSat at Autonomy Level 2, requiring only four approvals from the ground to proceed. This demonstrates that ASTRO is able to use its robotic arm to take a battery from a commodities spacecraft, place it onboard ASTRO, and maintain it until it is delivered to a client spacecraft. The battery currently on ASTRO is being maintained at the proper state of charge and temperature for Scenario 1-3 performance scheduled for 4/25/2007.

ASTRO successfully transfers ~60 lbm of the propellant from NextSat demonstrated on Scenario 0-10. The transfer is performed at the same higher autonomy level as Scenario 0-10, but at a different pump speed. The pump runs for 15 minutes, the longest pump performed to date. After the transfer is completed, ASTRO autonomously decouples the fluid transfer system from NextSat to prepare to transfer ORUs (Orbital Replacement Units) planned for 4/23 and 4/25.

ASTRO performs an autonomous propellant transfer coupler mate, pressurization and leak check. Boeing engineers then conduct Scenario 0-10, a propellant pump transfer from ASTRO to NextSat at an Autonomy Level 2. This is the first transfer of propellant to NextSat after ejecting the separation ring. The pump was run at 100% pump speed, marking another historical milestone. The transfer is successfully completed and the targeted mass is transferred. No safing conditions are encountered.

Software uploads (i.e. Scenario Bundles) are successfully conducted to prepare for the Scenarios 0-10 and 0-11 fluid transfers. These fluid transfers will be at higher pump speeds (100%) and higher autonomy levels than previous fluid transfers. Because of the successful operations on 4/19 with the arm, it is determined that there will be no software parameter file changes to ASTRO's arm data files.

Boeing engineers validate that all operations, after berthing and mating including the separation ring ejection, are within arm tolerances to run the arm autonomous control software.

Engineers calibrate the ASTRO sensors to ensure that the guidance system knows where the targets are on NextSat and to accurately perform the proximity and terminal capture operations. The sensor calibration data is currently being evaluated to determine if Boeing engineers need to make any software changes.

ASTRO maneuvers its robotic arm to move NextSat up to the Attitude D position to eject the separation ring. The ring successfully ejects and ASTRO's sensors take pictures of the ring as it moves away. ASTRO then moves NextSat from Attitude D to the pre-berth position and then to the berthing position. ASTRO then uses its capture mechanism to capture NextSat. ASTRO's arm releases NextSat and the capture mechanism then pulls NextSat into the mated position. This is the first time in space science that a revolutionary capture mechanism has been used to successfully pull a spacecraft into the mated position.

Boeing begins Scenario 1-1 testing of the Orbital Express system by starting operations that will result in ejecting the separation ring linking NextSat and ASTRO. Ejecting the ring is critical to operations because ASTRO sensors are covered by panels attached to the ring. To do this, Boeing engineers command ASTRO to start Scenario 1-1. ASTRO then powers up the robotic arm to grapple NextSat and release the separation ring band attached to NextSat. ASTRO then extends the arm holding NextSat out to the pre-berth position. This position will be held overnight due to an anomaly discovered with the ASTRO arm. After careful analysis, it is determined that it will be safe to eject the separation ring linking the two spacecraft the next day.

News Release 4/17/07
Update 4/13 -- The team planned to perform several fluid transfers that are referred to as Scenarios 0-5 through 0-8.

Scenario 0-5 was successfully performed on Monday, 4/9 and approximately 52 lbm (pounds mass) of propellant was transferred from ASTRO to NextSat. Near the end of this scenario, a safety limit was tripped which safed the system and stopped the transfer shortly before the nominal completion time. Upon review of the flight data, it was determined that it was safe to continue and the team started to perform Scenario 0-6 on Wednesday.

Scenario 0-6 was a pump transfer of propellant from the NextSat spacecraft to ASTRO. This scenario was at a higher pump speed than previously attempted. Shortly after starting the operations, the transfer system safed itself due to exceeding a limit related to gas flow rates. The data review indicated that this limit was conservative and the limit was adjusted to avoid another inadvertent safing trigger.

Because of the criticality of being able to perform the ring eject operations on 4/16, the team reviewed the operations plan and determined that it would move directly to Scenario 0-8 rather than continuing with 0-6 and 0-7, because Scenario 0-8 is a transfer from NextSat to ASTRO, followed by a transfer system coupler disengage and stow. It is required to disengage the coupler prior to the Scenario 1-1 ring eject operations on Monday, 4/16. The team is evaluating where to reschedule these two transfer scenarios at this time.

On Friday 4/13, the team successfully performed Scenario 0-8, transferring 17.1 lbm of propellant from NextSat to ASTRO. The target in this transfer was 17.8 lbm of propellant, and the team came within 1% of the target transfer mass. The subsequent pressure control, gauging, coupler retract and purging/leak checking operations were all completed successfully and autonomously. This weekend, the team will perform planning and reviews to ensure its readiness to perform the ring eject sequences on Monday. For a preview of what it will look like from outside the spacecraft, view the videos page on the Web site.

Update for 4/6--Today on Orbital Express we performed our first autonomous battery Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) transfer. This first transfer moved the battery from ASTRO, where it has been since launch, and placed it on NextSat, where it is now integrated into the NextSat power system. When installed on NextSat, this extra battery allows NextSat to hold LVLH attitudes away from the sun for longer durations when some of the unmated scenarios are performed. This transfer marks the first time one satellite has autonomously transferred a battery to another spacecraft using a robotic manipulator arm. All operations went as planned and we experienced no anomalies. The operations were performed at our lowest autonomy level and required several approvals to proceed. This was to ensure that all the data were understood at each major point in the arm's trajectory prior to proceeding. Future transfers to NextSat will be performed at higher levels of autonomy, which will require no ATPs from the ground team.

Update for 4/5--We completed Scenario 0-4 today, successfully transferring 52.5 pounds of hydrazine from NextSat's reservoir back to the ASTRO fuel transfer tank. This was a pumped transfer; we ran ASTRO's pump at 80% speed for 4 minutes and it performed nominally. In this scenario NextSat was acting as a Fuel Depot/Commodities spacecraft, fulfilling the CsC role for the first time. An anomaly was experienced at pump shutdown but was rapidly resolved by the Flight Operations team. After transferring the propellant, ASTRO then autonomously reconfigured the fuel transfer system and demated the fluid coupler from NextSat in preparation for the Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) transfer operations 4/6. The first transfer of the ORU battery will be from ASTRO to NextSat and the battery will be left on the NextSat, where it will be integrated into their electrical power system.

Originally Scenario 0-4 was planned to be completed 4/4 but was slipped due to a limit trip in the ASTRO autonomous monitoring and safing systems. Mission data was analyzed and it was determined that the limits could be adjusted without compromising vehicle or mission safety.

The parameters were adjusted to avoid the system safing and subsequently today's transfer was successfully executed.

The first Orbital Express demonstration, Scenario 0-1, was successful.

The ASTRO spacecraft autonomously completed a coupler system mating and leak check on March 31, and then performed a pressure-fed hydrazine propellant transfer to NextSat on April 1. ASTRO transferred just under 32 pounds of hydrazine to the NextSat client, meeting the scenario objective.

This first transfer was performed at the lowest autonomy level, which requires multiple ground approvals for the spacecraft to execute the operation. In the case of Scenario 0-1, a total of 23 approvals were needed during this first coupler mate and hydrazine transfer operation.

On April 2, ASTRO successfully used its pump to transfer 19 pounds of hydrazine to NextSat. The spacecraft will perform a reverse transfer (NextSat to ASTRO) on April 4.

Later this week, ASTRO will transfer a battery from its bay to a similar bay onboard NextSat. The battery is fully functional and will integrate into NextSat's electrical power system. April 16 marks the ejection of the separation ring joining the two spacecraft. This will allow the operations team to perform unmated rendezvous and capture activities.

Orbital Express checkouts of the MDA arm and its capabilities continued today with the performance of the Mated Global Video Survey. This survey had over 154 script elements and involved complex interaction between the arm and the ASTRO guidance and control systems. As part of the survey the arm moved to various positions of interest and photographed points on the ASTRO and NextSat vehicles. ASTRO periodically halted arm survey operations to perform attitude management and then re-engaged the arm to continue the survey operations. All of the arm management, guidance and control moding, and attitude management were performed autonomously, with the ground team monitoring in case of anomalies or unplanned performance. Over 1600 images were taken as part of the survey and select images will be posted in our image gallery.

Orbital Express checkout activities continue as planned. The spacecraft are currently in a nominal state, with the ASTRO servicer controlling the stack. Scenario 0 demonstrations are expected to commence the end of this week.

Orbital Express early activation checkouts continued this week with the start of the Fluid Transfer System activation, the completion of the checkout of the ASTRO sensors and sensor computers AC2 and AC3, performance of a moment of inertia test, and completion of a software update on the ASTRO vehicle. This software load addresses the anomalies experienced with the guidance and control systems noted previously. The software was successfully loaded and checked out on March 23, and the ASTRO vehicle is currently in its planned nominal mated GNC mode. The NextSat spacecraft continues to perform nominally and all planned launch and early activation checkouts have been completed.

The only major system remaining to be checked out is the ASTRO manipulator system - OEDMS, provided by MDA. These checkouts will be performed the week of 3/26. The next update will be upon OEDMS checkout completions when Scenario 0 commences later this week.