ST-6 is a subsystem technology demonstration that consisted of 2 separate projects, the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment on board the Earth Observing 1 satellite and the Inertial Stellar Compass (ISC) experiment aboard TacSat-2.
The ASE software uses onboard continuous planning, robust task and goal-based execution, and onboard machine learning and pattern recognition to radically increase science return by enabling intelligent downlink selection and autonomous retargeting.
The Inertial Stellar Compass (ISC) enables a spacecraft to continuously determine its attitude or the direction in which it is pointing.
It also enables a spacecraft to recover its orientation (direction and pointing) after a temporary malfunction or power loss.
Although this is not a new concept, the small size and low power consumption are revolutionary and an important feature for the new, smaller spacecraft and satellites of the future.