Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) is an American aerospace company that develops transformative technologies for space, sea, and air missions. As a space industry player, TUI specializes in providing solutions for in-space manufacturing, satellite servicing, and advanced communication systems. Their key products include software-defined radios (SWIFT), robotic systems like the KRAKEN robotic arm, and in-space manufacturing technologies such as the Refabricator for recycling plastic into 3D printer filament, partnering with organizations like NASA and SSL (Space Systems Loral, now Maxar). TUI was acquired by AMERGINT Technologies in 2020 and is now a subsidiary of Arka.
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Tethers Unlimited’s SWIFT-XTX supports modulation formats including BPSK, USB, AMFSK, QPSK, and SGLS, requires input voltage of 9–34.6 V, has an operating power of 22 W, a mass of 0.8 kg, and dimensions 107 x 98 x 0.046 m.
Tethers Unlimited’s SWIFT-XTX X-Band Software-Defined Transmitter operates in the 8–8.5 GHz range with a 50 MHz transmit bandwidth, peak throughput up to 100 Mbps, and RF output power of +33 dBm.
The Dragracer experiment deployed two identical cubesats, one equipped with a 70-meter drag tape made by Tethers Unlimited and one without the tape.
Alchemy and its twin satellite Augury were launched in November 2020 as part of the Dragracer mission by Millennium Space Systems, TriSept Corp., Tethers Unlimited, and Rocket Lab.
After arrival at Goddard, Maxar and NASA teams will complete installation of the Maxar-built SPIDER robotic arm and the Tethers Unlimited-built MakerSat to the OSAM-1 spacecraft bus.
Tethers Unlimited’s MANTIS is a payload that can collaborate with Astrobee using AstroPorter software.
The tether on DRAGRACER is a 70-meter-long (70.1 m) Terminator Tape developed by Tethers Unlimited.
Alchemy is equipped with a 70-meter aluminized Kapton Terminator Tape manufactured by Tethers Unlimited Inc.
A few days into the DragRacer mission one of the satellites will autonomously deploy a 230-foot-long Terminator Tape tether provided by Tethers Unlimited.
On 2020-05-05, NASA awarded Tethers Unlimited two Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research awards worth up to $750,000, including one award to further develop HyperBus and a second award to continue work on ARTIE, a robotic power and grapple interface that could be used on the lunar Gateway.
Tethers Unlimited is developing a satellite servicer called LEO Knight, a passive deorbit system called Terminator Tape, and an in-space manufacturing platform called HyperBus.
Amergint Technology Holdings acquired Tethers Unlimited on 2020-05-06.
The NASA contract funds SPIDER through completion and funds a SPIDER demonstration with Tethers Unlimited’s MakerSat to build a 10-meter boom in space and attach it to Restore-L.
Tethers Unlimited has another Terminator Tape demonstration mission called DragRacer launching on a Rocket Lab Electron later 2020.
Terminator Tape and its timer cost Tethers Unlimited about $500,000 to develop using a combination of internal funding and U.S. government research grants.
Tethers Unlimited would need to be paid more than $10,000 per satellite to attach Terminator Tape to abandoned spacecraft, based on the price Iridium CEO Matt Desch floated as a conversation starter.
LEO Knight’s first use could be with a fleet of satellites built on Tethers Unlimited’s HyperBus cubesat platforms to enable refueling-enabled missions.
Tethers Unlimited is targeting the small satellite market in low Earth orbit for LEO Knight, focusing on spacecraft too small to be economically serviced by robotic spacecraft developed under DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program.
Tethers Unlimited is designing a satellite servicing vehicle called LEO Knight that leverages technologies developed for the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA.