Swarm Coordination Protocols

Swarm coordination protocols provide networking and control software that enables groups of satellites, rovers, or drones to work together as coordinated formations, managing relative navigation, shared sensing, distributed decision-making, and fault tolerance. These systems allow swarms to maintain formation, share information, and coordinate actions even with intermittent communication, creating capabilities that exceed what individual vehicles can achieve alone.

This innovation addresses the challenge of coordinating multiple autonomous vehicles in space or on planetary surfaces, where communication may be limited and vehicles must work together to achieve mission objectives. By enabling distributed coordination, these protocols allow swarms to perform tasks like distributed sensing, coordinated mapping, or collaborative construction that require multiple vehicles working together. The technology is being developed for applications including satellite constellations, lunar rover teams, and inspection drone swarms.

The technology is particularly valuable for missions requiring distributed sensing or coordinated action, where multiple vehicles can provide capabilities that exceed individual systems. As space missions become more ambitious and require larger-scale operations, swarm coordination becomes essential. However, ensuring reliable coordination, managing communication constraints, and handling failures gracefully remain challenging. The technology represents an important capability for future space operations, enabling new mission concepts that leverage distributed systems.