The Asteroid Institute has partnered with US-based York Space Systems to jointly explore the development of a constellation of satellites for a new space-based asteroid tracking system.

Low-cost satellites will be designed to collect data on asteroids.

Special-purpose instruments and advanced data processing will be developed by the Asteroid Institute and York will concentrate on the spacecraft mission.

In addition, the Asteroid Institute will help York’s existing collaboration with Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU-Denver) by allowing the aerospace science department’s students to work on the new programme.

“The map would be crucial for planetary defence, help future space exploration, and provide an insight into the origins of the solar system.”

An open-source Cloud-based platform for asteroid data analysis and mapping known as ADAM has been developed by the Asteroid Institute.

The institute is also involved in the development of a new technology called synthetic tracking for discovering asteroids that are too dim and fast to be effectively tracked by telescopes.

It aims to create a map of the asteroids in the inner solar system. The map would be crucial for planetary defence, help future space exploration, and provide an insight into the origins of the solar system.

York primarily functions through an enterprise business model, which integrates all segments of a space mission, including the provision of the standardised bus, as well as launch and mission operations.

Last month, York signed a memorandum of understanding with US orbital launch provider Rocket Lab to develop a rapid response launch capability.

Under the deal, the company will develop a universal Interface Control Document (ICD) and supporting Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) to streamline the manifesting process for small satellite launch customers.