UND anticipates ROADS mission satellites docking in coming weeks
The satellites were launched in June last year. UND President Andrew Armacost spoke about the ROADS mission at the 20th Annual UAS Summit and Expo.
GRAND FORKS — In the coming weeks, the University of North Dakota anticipates two satellites bearing the UND logo to dock together.
President Andrew Armacost said the docking is expected in the next four weeks.
“Pretty exciting,” he said. “This is the first time a university has done this type of on-orbit docking, and we’re proud of the partnership with ABS.”
The progress of the ROADS (Rendezvous and Operations for Autonomous Docking and Servicing) mission satellites was one of the updates Armacost gave at the UAS Summit and Expo, held at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
UND partnered with AVS US on the ROADS mission. Launched in June of last year, the two satellites, slightly larger than half-gallon milk cartons, will dock using GPS before separating and coming back to Earth.
Armacost also spoke of other examples of innovation as well as other projects underway at the university.
One newer partnership he highlighted is a collaboration with Auriga Space, which Armacost said launches unmanned systems using “essentially, maglev technologies.” Scott Snyder, UND’s vice president for research and economic development, signed a memorandum of understanding in March with Auriga CEO Winnie Lai. A press release about the signing said the collaboration is focused on the hypersonics, counter-UAS and space national security applications of Auriga’s electromagnetic propulsion technology.
“These types of partnerships are key to the University of North Dakota continuing to be a successful catalyst for ideas that benefit our work in national security,” Armacost said. “The end result of all these collaborations, many of them … (is) we see many government sponsors, many industry partners and many local members of our ecosystem here in Grand Forks coming together to solve the challenges of the day.”
Armacost also referenced UND’s work in subjects like laser communications, satellites, nanomaterials and digital engineering. The consequence of this investment, work and partnerships is UND’s designation as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
“We’re proud of that designation, but there’s work to be done,” he said. “You can’t just receive a designation and let your foot off the accelerator. We’re continuing to advance our work.”
In particular, Armacost mentioned a goal announced last year to create a stronger sense of innovation around campus and look for ways to take technologies and research projects and put them into the commercial marketplace. The goal led to the UND Center for Innovation’s summer cohort to develop entrepreneurship and ideas for faculty and graduate students and, this fall, the Lift-Off Showcase, at which some projects won funding.
There are also future events on the horizon at UND focused on space and national security. The Space Operations Summit, which invites attendees to UND to talk about advancing space operations, will be held Nov. 4-5. Also on Nov. 5 will be the continuation of the "UND LEADS: Broad Perspectives on National Security" speaker series, with Patrick “Mike” Shortsleeve, vice president for strategic development at General Automics Aeronautical Systems, visiting campus.
