Description du projet
Réparer les satellites dans l’espace
Il n’est actuellement pas possible de réparer les satellites en orbite. Le projet EROSS IOD, financé par l’UE, entend remédier à cette situation en menant des recherches sur l’utilisation de robots autonomes pour l’entretien en orbite (OOS pour «on-orbit servicing»). Des tâches telles que le rendez-vous autonome, le ravitaillement en carburant et le remplacement des composants contribueront à entretenir et à prolonger la durée de vie des satellites. EROSS IOD concevra les missions et les technologies nécessaires pour concrétiser ces objectifs. Ce projet s’appuie sur les progrès réalisés par les projets antérieurs EROSS et EROSS+ et ouvre la voie à l’assemblage, à la réparation et à la gestion des déchets dans le futur écosystème spatial.
Objectif
Access to Space is now easier and easier, and is not possible anymore to design and launch disposable spacecraft without considering the consequences: On-Orbit Servicing (OOS) is a first step towards this change of paradigm, as the technologies, typically autonomous rendezvous, refuelling, Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) exchange, repair and waste management with autonomous robotic tools will be used in future smart, flexible and modular space infrastructures. The growing demand for satellite life extension from commercial customers, making OOS an emerging market, is an opportunity to support those developments.
To that purpose, designing in a phase B2/C the right mission and maturing the technologies to enable a go-to-market for future OOS missions is the main goal for €ROSS IOD. The objective is to enable the in-orbit demonstration of all the key capabilities: coordinated close rendezvous between two free flying spacecraft comparable in mass and inertia (a first in Europe) and autonomous robotic operations such as capture, refuelling and change of payload with a poly-articulated arm.
In order to ensure a sound and low-cost solution, the project leverages on the previous developments carried out for the last 6 years within the Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) on Space Robotics technologies, particularly in continuity of the past project EROSS and the current project EROSS+.
The final aim of the €ROSS IOD project is to prepare and carry out the last remaining steps to fly a European pioneering mission by 2026 with a customer-driven approach.
Thales Alenia Space, with GMV, DLR and 14 European technology providers (research centres, large, medium and small companies including one start-up), is following its plan to commercialise a multipurpose servicer for LEO and GEO servicing by 2026, and this project is a major stepping stone to provide the first go-to-market.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste management
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringsatellite technology
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robots
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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinateur
31100 Toulouse
France