25 September 2025
Deneb Space today announces ARVO (Autonomous RendezVous Operations), an onboard autonomy software designed for the most critical in-orbit challenge, satellite rendezvous, the bottleneck to a sustainable space environment. Without a reliable relative pose between satellites, there can be no safe docking or servicing. Without safe Rendezvous and proximity operations, satellites remain disposable.
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ARVO solves this by delivering precise, informed-AI relative pose and alignment to enable safe approach, station-keeping, and docking, unlocking debris removal, in-orbit servicing, inspection, and refuelling.
What ARVO delivers
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Relative pose for satellite-to-satellite operations and object tracking.
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Informed AI that fuses vision-based sensing with classical navigation, providing explainability, fault-tolerance and deterministic fail-safes.
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Non-cooperative targeting support for unprepared client objects, vital for debris capture and legacy satellite servicing.
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Scalable & generalised software designed for diverse buses and sensor suites, enabling constellation-wide deployment.
Built on Australian research
ARVO is being commercialised by Deneb Space on the back of research from our Co-founder and CEO Anne Bettens’ PhD, supported by SmartSat CRC. The SmartSat CRC brings together national and international partners across academia, industry and government in order to advance Australia's space R&D capability.
“This is a fine example of technology developed in PhD research translating into a key vision-based autonomy product for Deneb. This is fantastic smart technology that is novel in combining physics-based filtering with AI processing to enable spacecraft proximity operations.”
- Carl Seubert, Chief Research Officer, SmartSat CRC
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What sets ARVO apart is its informed-AI architecture: modern vision-based AI fused with proven navigation methods, ensuring performance that is explainable, robust and mission-ready.
Proven pathway to space autonomy
Deneb Space recently achieved flight heritage, launched in August 2024 as part of the Waratah Seed-1 mission with its eMag, supported by Investment NSW. Delivering precise attitude control and enabling satellites to stabilise and orient themselves in orbit, within 24 hours of deployment.
The company’s roadmap advances operators toward space autonomy, where spacecraft can sense, decide and act to keep orbits safer and missions more resilient.
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“We're now building on that foundation to develop autonomous satellite systems, combining our hardware with vision-based navigation and Al software to enable smart, responsive satellites for future space missions.”
- Anne Bettens, CEO and Co-founder, Deneb Space
About Deneb Space
Deneb Space is an Australian deep-tech company advancing autonomous satellite manoeuvrability and precision Attitude Determination and Control Systems. With flight-proven hardware, Deneb equips spacecraft with the sensing and control intelligence needed for safe close-proximity operations and sustainable orbital infrastructure.
Media enquiries
Deneb Space
Email: info@denebspace.com.au
Web: www.deneb.space