Speaker
Description
MDA UK together with City University of London (CUL) is developing VIRGO (Visible and InfraRed Guidance Optics), this is a multispectral camera solution which combines two spectral bands, thermal infrared (TIR) and visible (VIS), with complementary sensitivities and capabilities, into a single architecture design. Furthermore, this solution comprises algorithms for sensors data fusion and pose estimation developed by CUL to provide an autonomous navigation suite.
Such technology development, currently funded under the ESA GSTP project MuLaN, will be critical to the space transportation logistics ecosystem, which will require flight ready rendezvous and in-orbit servicing capability to satisfy the evolving institutional and commercial transportation needs.
In particular, the recent ESA In-Orbiting servicing industrial workshop (2022) showed a potential in the market, considering that an estimate of 245 GEO satellites are approaching EOL by 2035, so they would require servicing, life extension or removal to achieve the net-zero strategy aimed to be reached in 2030.
VIRGO is being designed with modularity in mind with flexibility to expand functionality with inclusion of additional visible subsystem for wide-angle inspection and docking (< 15 m) or long range (> 250 m) instead. The current baseline design includes an additional visible subsystem to allow wide angle field of view for close-range rendezvous capabilities up to 5 m distance from the target spacecraft.
VIRGO is primarily targeting for its usage on on-orbit servicing rendezvous and docking scenarios, and so it utilises a bespoke pose estimation algorithm which assures effectiveness from 250 m down to 5 m. The algorithm provides regular updates regarding position and attitude of the target to allow safe guidance of the chaser spacecraft; with the additional benefit of the multispectral system allowing operation in a multitude of illumination conditions and providing more information to the algorithm than separate optical systems could.
VIRGO is expected to reach TRL 6 within the current calendar year, this will be achieved by means of an Engineering Model demonstrating critical functions verification in relevant environment.
