When one thinks about how satellites and spacecraft are constructed today, the picture which immediately springs to mind is the large clean room, the heavy personnel needs and the large launcher required to transport a volume-constrained payload to space. PERIOD seeks to disrupt the status quo by showing there is an alternative to the traditional approach of manufacturing, assembling and validating space hardware on-ground with direct in-orbit manufacturing and assembly using robotics, autonomy and modularity. The advantages are multiple. No more constraints on the overall volume and design of large-scale satellite antennas. Ample opportunities to construct larger space infrastructures such as modular space stations. On top of this, the ISMA (In-Space Manufacturing and Assembly) technologies would allow for the upgrade and repair of existing spacecraft and satellites, thereby fostering the sustainable usage of space through plug and play modularity.
The ISMA industry can bring revolution to space market achieving a sustainable space ecosystem and bringing new services. The PERIOD consortium is confident that a decade from now, considering a stepwise evolution, many different capabilities will be introduced. Large-antenna commercial satellites autonomously assembled in space will provide citizens with a wide range of services, and scientific satellites will allow us to see further into deep space than ever before. Payloads will be autonomously exchanged on standard reconfigurable satellites. The majority of satellites will be repaired, serviced or de-orbited in space, meaning that we will be able to better face the space debris issue. Advanced space robotics will be used for local and autonomously manufacturing and assembly on the space stations in LEO and lunar orbit.
The specific objectives of the PERIOD project in phase A/B1 were to develop the core technologies ESROCOS, ERGO and InFuse to TRL5, to evaluate the available Standard Interconnect components (SIROM, HOTDOCK, iSSI) for the specific assembly demonstration scenario in a benchmark, to evaluate assembly capability in a breadboard for ESROCOS, ERGO, InFuse, I3DS and SIs, to define an orbital demonstrator concept along with its system technical requirements for satellite manufacturing & assembly and for attachment & refuelling experiment up to the System Requirements Review (SRR), and to implement communication and dissemination activities to inform the space community and potential customers on the In-Space Manufacturing and Assembly (ISMA) capabilities and provide transparency on risks and mitigations. The successful implementation of these objectives will lead in the future to the generation of independent European capacities allowing Europe building the future orbital infrastructure and being competitive on the ISMA markets.
