AOS has designed a Modular AR&D System (HYDRA®) and built an initial prototype with selected (near field and docking) capabilities and expansion capabilities to accommodate time of flight and far field sensors. Lessons from DART and Orbital Express have been applied to the proposed HYDRA® design. Some of the key factors considered in the proposed HYDRA® system are:

• Redundancy
• Radiation tolerance
• Flexibility
• Dynamic re-configurability

The design consists of three elements:

• The sensor head and/or camera which is/can be mounted external to the spacecraft
• The processing electronics which will/can be mounted internal to the spacecraft and
•  The HYDRA® target which is mounted on the target spacecraft at/near the docking interface.

The initial HYDRA® system designed by AOS includes an AVGS sensor head and an ULTOR® sensor head respectively shown below.

The initial HYDRA® system also utilizes the target configuration shown below which consists of retroreflector targets and a visible target.

Although the initial HYDRA® system has been designed as a ground demonstration unit, design methods and component selection will enable a straightforward path for building a space qualified HYDRA® system.