Systems and methods for an auxiliary services interface

A system for autonomously mating auxiliary services of a payload with a spacecraft across an auxiliary service interface comprising a payload half and a first spacecraft half, the system comprising:

• one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors;
• respective one or more spacecraft-side auxiliary service connectors for connecting with the one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors;
• a mating plate on the payload half configured to be driven towards an alignment plate on the first spacecraft half, the one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors disposed on the mating plate and the respective one or more spacecraft-side auxiliary service connectors disposed on the alignment plate;
• and
• capture arms disposed on the payload half configured to be driven into contact with the alignment plate to bring the one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors on the mating plate into coarse alignment with the respective one or more spacecraft-side auxiliary service connectors on the alignment plate;
• wherein the one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors are configured to mate with the respective one or more spacecraft-side auxiliary service connectors when the connectors are in fine alignment until the auxiliary services interface reaches a self-locking state, and wherein in the self-locking state the one or more payload-side auxiliary service connectors are fully mated to the respective one or more spacecraft-side auxiliary service connectors and are retained in a mated state.