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Narrator: Groups of self-coordinating spacecraft,

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also known as swarms,

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will open the door to exciting new opportunities

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in science and space exploration.

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NASA's Starling mission is a key test

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of the technologies that will make

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this vision possible.

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Starling consists of four

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identical small satellites.

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With Starling, the goal is for a swarm

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to cooperate and work as one

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with minimal human intervention.

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From Earth orbit, automated decision-making

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systems take the place of ground controllers,

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performing tasks from determining

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the relative positions of the spacecraft

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to planning and executing maneuvers.

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These types of operations are impractical

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to manage from Earth

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when a group of spacecraft is large.

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Or when a swarm is so distant,

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the time delay for communications is significant.

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The mission also has an experiment that monitors

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Earth's upper atmosphere, with the onboard systems

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autonomously choosing which spacecraft

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is best positioned to make observations.

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Starling's technologies will help realize a future

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where groups of spacecraft are able

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to work together on their own,

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whether close to home or far away.

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(Background music fades out)

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