Description
Enabling the first active debris-removal mission as the cornerstone for a vital new European business providing in-orbit servicing such as repairing, refuelling or even recycling. This encompasses also Close-proximity operations and On-orbit manufacturing, assembly and recycling (OMAR)
The project ADR-LEOCOM (Active Debris Recovery System for LEO Communications Missions) was a project in the frame of the ARTES program. The objective of this activity was to identify different business model architectures for debris removal systems together with the associated high-level Concept of Operations where applicable. After finding a valid business model, then an initial design of the...
There is little doubt that we are witnessing a rapid expansion of space activities, both in Earth orbits and outside Earth's sphere of influence. This is mostly driven by commercial activities: new and existing companies that are exploiting the "Resource Space" to deliver innovative product and services while making profits.
In order to use space efficiently, an infrastructure of logistics...
Airbus has developed many concepts in the field of In-Orbit Servicing, and built unique experience and competencies across:
• Rendezvous and proximity operations: as prime for the ATV programme, leading the world first full automated rendezvous; this success was the result of an intense effort involving design and validation of whole GNC functional chain (incl. Visual Based Navigation sensors...
We need new missions to be smarter and innovative in order to counteract and better manage the future in space to tackle the growing population of satellites. We have to do On-Orbit Servicing: it’s a way of directly managing satellites while they are operating in space. In order to better enable these new advanced operations in space like refuelling or upgrading, this requires satellites, from...
In-Orbit Servicing means performing activities through robotics technology onto a spacecraft or, more generically, a “space object” in space, right when it is in orbit. Today Satellite Operators deal with unserviceable satellites in orbit that might need to be repaired, refurbished, refueled, reconfigured, or placed in orbits where they can last for many more years, or deorbited (either closer...
The sustainability of the servicing mission stands only in the case the servicer can reliably perform different services.
Celestial mechanics have an impact on the servicer spacecraft design. The needed versatility of the servicer cannot withstand with frequent changes of the orbital planes; therefore, the servicer shall target a specific orbit.
The PERIOD Consortium, -bringing together the competencies of Airbus Defence and Space, DFKI, EASN-TIS, GMV, GMV-SKY, ISISPACE, SENER Aeroespacial and Space Application Services, is proposing a very ambitious demonstration scenario for an orbital Factory concept. A satellite will be manufactured, assembled in the Factory and injected in LEO for being operated. The manufacturing includes the...
The presentation will give insite of the outputs gained at the end of phase A for the e.Inspector 12U cubesat mission.
Rationale for the proposed baseline together with the opportunities the mission offers to play as on orbit demonstrator for technologies to cope with interesting challenges the close proximity operations ask to face will be presented as well.
A glimpse on the MBSE approach...
To make in-orbit servicing a tangible and viable reality, a set of foundational technologies must be matured and verified accordingly. Such technologies act as cornerstones or columns from where in-orbit activities such as debris removal, refueling and inspection can stand upon. ReOrbit is embarked on demonstrating such foundational technologies with a tech maturation mission called Ukko which...
Blackswan Technologies is building autonomy in space. While developing autonomous navigation and space robotics technologies, we have realized that all the currently available tools for training and testing autonomous space missions are lacking. Thus, our team has started developing the Mission Design Simulator (MDS) to enable rapid prototyping without the need to use multiple software...
Satellite owners, operators, space agencies and commercial players owning the mega-constellations (e.g. Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, OneWeb, etc.) will need to find economically viable ways to inspect, refuel, augment, extend and manage the lifetime of their satellites. Satellite owners are bound to face the challenge to choose the most reliable and profitable on-orbit satellite servicing solution...
Space debris removal needs a complex strategy of mitigation and remediation where technological innovations may open new routes and possibilities. At present, the use of cleaning satellites for debris capture and de-orbiting seems to be very promising. Nevertheless, traditional solutions are mainly investigated, from the net to robotized arms. It is evident that the grabbing device technology...
On-orbit manufacturing, assembly and recycling (OMAR) servicing entails many challenges with one of the most complex tasks being that of cooperative capture. Such challenges are related to rendezvous proximity operations, close range navigation, capture and manipulation of payloads or client spacecraft.
Robotic arms are key enablers of OMAR, providing capabilities for soft capture and...
Nowadays two tendencies makes that the number of in orbit objects are increasing exponentially. The launch of smallsats constellations, and the fact that the old satellites remains in orbit which also increase the risk to generate colliding debris. Considering these trends, the aim of the CRUSSADER (Capture system for servicing and debris removal) project is to develop a gripping system up to...
With the dramatic increase in the use of drones, protecting people and assets against from uncontrolled or hostile drones is a priority for public and private organizations responsible for safety and security. Drone Catcher is a net-based drone capture system that allows the capture and retrieve of the drone safely without it falling to the ground, though the action of a tether pulled by an...
To properly reconstruct shape and dynamics of a target a chaser has to interact with is a crucial skill that servicing spacecraft shall ensure in performing on-orbit servicing missions. Imaging based sensor suite on board the chaser is the baseline for target data acquisition and drives the proper fly-around guidance synthesis in the mission design phase.
That scheme, however, lacks...
One of the focuses of TIRVOA (ESA Contract No. 4000132353/20/NL/CRS/hh) project is to collect, evaluate and compare open-air with vacuum conditions through tests, simulation, and image rendering data in the thermal infrared band. The gathered information can help to improve the application of thermal infrared cameras in vision-based navigation for active debris removal.
Tests have been...
A multi-spectral system has been developed by an European consortium, led by cosine Remote Sensing (NL), including Spanish GMV Aerospace and Defence (ES), for a visual based navigation approach, based on the complementary use of imagery acquired in the Visible Near Infrared (VNIR) and the Thermal Infrared (TIR) spectral ranges. VNIR images exhibit high spatial resolution, but favourable...
One of the most important technical challenges for future on-orbit servicing missions is represented by the autonomous relative navigation in the proximity of a potentially uncooperative target. Current relative navigation techniques mostly rely on visible band (VIS) images. However, the acquisition of such images imposes several constraints on the spacecraft trajectory and operations, since...
Successful in orbit servicing missions rely on a variety of sensors, which provide crucial GNC information. These sensors include navigation cameras and LiDAR sensors. They are the foundation to detect, track, approach and finally enable close proximity operations such as berthing, docking or other operations on the client. Jena-Optronik’s sensors enabled the successful approach and docking in...
Operating spacecraft equipped with robotic manipulators for Servicing and Assembly and Active Debris Removal missions poses significant challenges to autonomy and GNC-driven design.
GMV has actively participated in ESA’s steps towards development of technological responses to their most critical aspects.
The state-of-the art and lessons learnt from GMV's recent experience in the topic are...
Future science and exploration missions will implement innovative mission concepts to embark on daring endeavors exploiting cooperating intelligent systems. Two future applications are the Orbit Debris Removal and the On-Orbit Servicing. The approach to an uncooperative object is challenging but it can enable the achievement of important mission objectives, such as restoring, refueling,...
IOSHEXA is a spacecraft developed to have highly cost-effective access to space to perform a wide variety of operations. Thanks to SAB’s heritage in the development of adapters for Rideshare and PiggyBack missions, IOSHEXA takes advantage of the launcher structure in a way that the launch capacity for such structure is included in the baseline services already being provided by the Launcher...
Space Debris Removal applications will require precise navigation and orbital manoeuvres so may include a variety of onboard sensors to support different types of autonomous guidance systems. Vision and LiDAR-based Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) systems are well-established for space applications including planetary landers, small-body approach and landing, hazard detection for precise...
The concept of On-orbit manufacturing and recycling has received increasing attention in the past years and a number of isolated technology developments have been initiated. The production and reuse of spacecraft in orbit provides the potential to turn problems into valuable assets. This requires the understanding of the implications at mission and system level as well as a clear view of the...
Through its Clean Space (CS) initiative, ESA has been devoting an increasing amount of attention to the environmental impact of its activities, including its own operations as well as operations performed by European industry in the frame of ESA programmes. On-orbit manufacturing and recycling is a concept that has been gaining momentum in the past years. A number of isolated technology...
Space Sustainability has become an important topic over the last two decades fueled by the debris issue and an increasing number of space infrastructure elements. Besides servicing and debris removal partly sharing technologies, new system solutions are proposed to broaden the scope of space mission, to improve their economics and to make space sustainable in the long-term, also regarding...
Large format, on-orbit additive manufacturing (AM) and assembly is actively being considered as a modular solution that facilitates resource efficient manufacturing, operations, and servicing in space. Customizable structures that can be manufactured in space bring a myriad of benefits that can significantly contribute towards sustainable space missions. To realize this, a novel AM approach to...
The opportunity for in-space manufacturing is significant. The potential for in-space manufacturing to create new materials, composites, and alloys by leveraging the conditions of the space environment is high. As is, the ability to use in-space manufacturing technologies for future exploration and In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) needs.
However, in-space manufacturing is limited due to...
Through its Clean Space (CS) initiative and to fully benefit from the removal of constraints linked to on-ground manufacturing and launcher requirements, ESA has set up the OMAR (On-orbit Manufacture, Assembly & Recycle) initiative. It is a system approach aiming to give an overview of the most interesting applications, to map the state-of-the-art and to derive a roadmap for the critical...
In terms of design for removal, passive technologies installed on the target satellite may potentially ease identification, tracking and pose estimation of the target. From far to close rendezvous, planar distributed 2D markers can be used for such purpose, while for the last moments of the rendezvous, up to capture, a single 3D marker is required to perform pose estimation. Installing LRRs on...
In the last years many space agencies and national entities have raised the problematic of introducing and/or already introduced Space Debris Mitigation (SDM) requirements within the design and development of the next generation of space missions, LEO scenarios/platforms in particular. The introduction those SDM requirements has a not negligible impact both at system and sub-system level on...
Space Debris Removal applications will require precise navigation and orbital manoeuvres so may include a variety of onboard sensors to support different types of autonomous guidance systems. Vision and LiDAR-based Guidance Navigation and Control (GNC) systems are well-established for space applications including planetary landers, small-body approach and landing, hazard detection for precise...
This presentation summarizes a number of activities within the European Space Agency (ESA) in the area of Vision-Based Navigation (VBN), using mainly cameras in the visible range and in the thermal Infrared (combined as MultiSpectral cameras, resulting from trade-off studies on the most advantageous wavelength bands for robust feature tracking) and augmented with commercial LIDARs for...
