Rhea Space Activity (RSA) is an astrophysics start-up company in the science and technology industry. Specifically, RSA ideates and creates high-risk/high-reward R&D concepts to support U.S. national security objectives. RSA has developed various technologies in the fields of infrared satellites, directed energy, artificial intelligence, LIDAR, astro-particle physics, small satellites, cislunar operations, intelligence collection, autonomous underwater vehicles and for the F35 Lightning II.
Ideation. We excel in creating high-risk/high-reward astrophysical concepts based on client technologies in order to garner support from government and commercial industry.
Technical Program Management. Once support is secured for a high-risk/high-reward idea, we provide technical program management expertise in the form of organization, direction, coordination, plan and execution to turn these ideas into reality.
RSA’s science-first ethos is predicated on deriving commercial applicability for our earliest-stage technological advancements. RSA’s innovative projects yield tangible security benefits for the United States and Five Eye partners and are easily adaptable to benefit scientific, civil and commercial pursuits.
JAM: Jervis Autonomy Module
JAM is a plug-and-play satellite subcomponent enabling onboard autonomous navigation of any size spacecraft. JAM significantly decreases the cost, labor, and frequency of communications for maneuvering in cislunar space by removing the need for two-way ranging. JAM enables scalability of satellite constellations in cislunar space by reducing the required labor by 80% and provides the ability to operate satellites in GPS denied environments. JAM is based on a proprietary deep space navigation algorithm that enabled NASA's Deep Impact mission to autonomously steer a projectile into a comet at a speed of 22,000 mph, resulting in an explosion equivalent to 4.8 tons of TNT. This innovative navigational technology is named after the late scholar and geographic engineer Major Thomas Best Jervis, who led the establishment of the U.K.'s Department of Topography and Statistics in 1855, which eventually became the first government-established Intelligence Branch.
LUNINT
RSA is providing a gateway to Lunar Intelligence (LUNINT), and to understanding what is happening, and what will soon happen, in cislunar space. RSA is the world's singular trailblazer in the field of LUNINT – a new intelligence field our scientists are defining based on aspirational requirements and parameters provided by the U.S. intelligence community and trusted Five Eyes partners. RSA leads the way in defining the hundreds of thousands of miles of open space between the surface of the Earth and the Moon. And, RSA is advancing overall abilities to provide monitoring and analysis of activity on the Moon, as well as the trajectories, and even the intentions, of near-peer competitor spacecraft to benefit U.S. national security, the safety of lanes of space travel between the Earth and the Moon, and the integrity of the Moon’s surface. LUNINT is a superset.
MOONINT
We define MOONINT as the collection of intelligence, specifically, on the lunar surface. MOONINT is a subset of LUNINT.
LUNAINT
We define LUNAINT as a subset of LUNINT such that LUNINT covers LUNAINT. Let A represent a set in LUNAINT where the set contains points p. For each point p in A which does not contain human activity, then p = 0. A set is called 'the null set' if for all p in A, p = 0. Null sets in LUNAINT indicate a lack of human activity. A set is defined as an element of interest. An element is deemed clopen when this occurs.
RUBY SKY
The RUBY SKY initiative is a ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind project designed to aid the United States and its allies in the detection of “hypersonics,” as near-peer competitors move rapidly toward the development and deployment of hypersonic missile capabilities. Hypersonics represent one of the greatest strategic threats facing the U.S. and its Five Eyes, NATO and Pacific-region partners, and the U.S. defense and intelligence establishments have lauded RSA’s RUBY SKY as a viable, efficient and holistic solution to this looming international challenge. The RUBY SKY project functionally and completely envisions a holistic solution to the hypersonic threat, starting with an innovative space-based optical manufacturing process, combined with origami-like structures to detect hypersonic vehicles within a small-satellite form factor. The aim of RUBY SKY is to cast the brightest of ‘spotlights’ over vulnerable global spots, including near-peer competitor launch areas that are otherwise dark. In time, the greatest advantage of the RUBY SKY project will be to completely nullify any strategic advantage provided to U.S. near-peer competitors by hypersonic vehicles.
Current Opening
LUNINT Flight Software Engineer
THE POSITION
The Flight Software Engineer is responsible for providing technical expertise on the needs of the proposed system, contributing in technical discussions with a multidisciplinary team, and developing navigation software for spacecraft operating throughout cislunar space. As part of our small team, you will be our in-house flight software expert, and be instrumental in the development of novel flight control software for the USSF/USAF.
MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS
1. Deep experience with coding in C and/or C++.
2. Deep experience with coding MATLAB/Simulink.
3. Familiarity or experience in several of the following areas: orbital dynamics, astrodynamics, manifold dynamics, guidance, navigation, control, avionics, Kalman filtering, optics, and systems engineering.
4. Completed M.S., Ph.D, or equivalent in a STEM field.
5. Ability to travel within the continental United States and to various international destinations
6. Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.