ROADS Mission

The University of North Dakota is collaborating with AVS US on the Rendezvous & Operations for Autonomous Docking and Servicing (ROADS) satellite mission, which will establish a dedicated satellite operations training facility at UND, including satellites, ground stations, and a mission control center. This initiative will give students real-world experience in mission operations through a pair of 3U satellites equipped with six degrees of freedom propulsion, three-axis attitude control, and multi-band communication systems.

These advanced capabilities will enable hands-on, dynamic spacecraft operations training, and support the UND Space Operations Group's ongoing research into Doppler tracking methods between satellites and ground stations. In addition, the ROADS mission will pioneer a world-first on-orbit rendezvous and docking demonstration without relying on optical or LIDAR sensors - an innovative approach that could reduce the cost of satellite docking by two to three orders of magnitude. UND ROADS 1 and UND ROADS 2 were successfully launched into Low Earth Orbit aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter 14 Rideshare mission on June 23, 2025.

We invite participation in the ROADS mission to those who can downlink digital data. If you are interested, please email your ground station capabilities, location, and contact information to undsog@space.edu. You can find more information about the ROADS Mission in the 2025 SmallSat Conference Proceedings.