Building Factories in Space through Swarm Technologies: An Interview with Rahul Rughani Artwork

SpaceBase Podcast

SpaceBase is a social enterprise who's mission is to democratize access to space through education, entrepreneurship and community building starting in New Zealand. This podcast is dedicated to creating the journey from space enthusiast to space entrepreneurs through insightful interviews with aerospace specialists, investors, and entrepreneurs sharing their experience and knowledge of the space industry, and their personal journeys.To support the podcast, please consider becoming a patron.Since its incorporation in 2017, SpaceBase has collaborated with economic development agencies, local and national governments, and advocacy groups to deliver over 100 educational presentations and workshops, national space and aerospace competitions, as well as helping birth space communities and organizations locally and globally. SpaceBase also assists in technical due diligence, consulting projects for investors, industry stakeholders, and space startups. SpaceBase created a platform for the NZ Aerospace Directory and a free course, Catalysing a Space Industry in Your Region, for anyone interested in creating a local space industry. Recently, it delivered the Space for Planet Earth Challenge competition for the Pacific region in partnership with satellite company Planet.

All Episodes

SpaceBase Podcast

Building Factories in Space through Swarm Technologies: An Interview with Rahul Rughani

October 19, 2022 • Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom • Episode 45

An interview with Rahul Rughani, systems engineer for Arkisys, a company building an autonomous research outpost in low Earth orbit. Rahul has a Bachelor’s of Engineering degree in Mechanical engineering from McGill University, with a concentration in Aeronautics. He also holds both PhD and Master of Science degrees in Astronautical engineering from the University of Southern California. His specialization is on orbital optimization techniques for spacecraft swarms. The focus of his research is to enable in-orbit manufacturing, satellite aggregation, and close-quarters robotic inspection of spacecraft, using swarms of small and medium sized satellites in Earth orbit. He has worked as a systems engineer on CubeSat projects and has performed in-depth analysis of past, present, and future methods of spacecraft Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) through funding provided by DARPA.

In this interview we will learn about how swarm technologies can someday build huge infrastructures in space, help with space debris, and create factories on orbit, the Moon and Mars.

Resources:
Space Mission Analysis and Design by Wiley Larson
Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students by Howard Curtis.

SpaceNews, space news website

Science Fiction Books:
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Expanse Book Series by James S. Corey (Also a TV series on Amazon)

Hosted by: Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom, Co-Founder and CEO, SpaceBase
Music: reCreation by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons (3.0)

If you like our work, please consider donating to SpaceBase through The Gift Trust or RSF Social Finance (for US charitable donations) and indicate "SpaceBase" gift account. Or be a SpaceBase Patreon sponsor!

Support the show