INTER-AGENCY AUTOMATED RENDEZVOUS AND CAPTURE WORKING GROUP
Proposed Charter
The purpose of the Inter-Governmental Agency working group for Automated
Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) technology development is to maximize benefits from
Government expenditures in the field of automated rendezvous and capture as well as
from the closely related field of precision orbital formation flying. This can be
accomplished through exchanging the fruits of our specific technology investments. The
principal functions of the working group are
 Understand current automated rendezvous initiatives, including their driving
design requirements, and proposed solutions
 Identify common needs across agencies and programs
 Enable and encourage, via inter-center and inter-agency funding or technical
support, enhanced collaboration on technology development for those
hardware or software components usable across multiple programs.
 Provide suggestions for further development of AR&C technologies to support
future programs
The working group will collect information about existing capabilities across the
Government that pertain to or might be used to advance AR&C. These include, but are
not limited to: technical expertise; navigation sensors; guidance, navigation, and flight
control (GN&C) algorithms; capture/docking systems; mission operations concepts;
computer simulation environments; facilities for hardware-in-the-loop development and
testing; launch preparations, and satellite servicing. The intent of the working group is to
allow each interested party to understand what others are doing in automated
rendezvous and capture so that they may take advantage of those investments as
desired.
During the next year, this working group will:
 Review lessons learned from past and present operational programs and how
they can be applied to future programs.
 Exchange information relating to AR&C tools, sensors, GN&C, etc.
 Work within the team to determine how to best take advantage of knowledge,
products, and capabilities through collaborative investments.
 Suggest areas for technology development to improve AR&C for future programs