Project description
Solving the orbital storage dilemma
In the vast expanse of Earth’s orbit, the prospect of sustainable commercial activities faces a critical hurdle: the overlooked challenge of orbital goods and resource storage. The current perspectives and roadmaps of major space players lack a comprehensive strategy for handling goods in space, hindering the realisation of operational orbital services and in situ resource utilisation. Addressing this gap, the EU-funded STARFAB project emerges as a groundbreaking initiative, seeking to pioneer an automated orbital Warehouse Unit that could revolutionise the landscape of future space commerce. STARFAB promises to be the linchpin for sustainable on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing, or OSAM, business models, shaping the future of orbital commerce.
Objective
Implementing sustainable commercial activities in Earth orbit requires not only the key technologies necessary to offer the targeted services (OOS / ISAM) but also the means to effectively ensure the (re)supply of the associated facilities. Storage and handling of goods and resources in orbit, in support of OOS or ISAM, have received limited attention in the perspectives and roadmaps of the major future space ecosystem and economy players.
STARFAB aims to explore a novel concept of an automated orbital Warehouse Unit (WU) within the context of both OOS and ISAM (also known as OSAM) commercial perspectives. It seeks to address a critical gap in the future space ecosystem, serving as an enabler for sustainable OSAM business models.
The STARFAB project will develop a Phase A equivalent concept and demonstrator of an orbital Warehouse Unit (WU), drawing inspiration from the state-of-the-art automated warehousing practices on Earth, while considering the challenging environmental conditions encountered in space, such as microgravity, vacuum, extreme temperatures, and radiation. STARFAB's objective is to advance the necessary technologies for handling goods in space (including modular and custom-shaped components, raw materials for manufacturing, fuel, water, and more), using robotics and automation. This will encompass storage elements with varying levels of protection, the Items Handling Solution (IHS), featuring custom automation tools for operations within the warehouse structure, and the Item Transfer System (ITS), designed as a robotic manipulator to provide flexible external item transfer within the WU. The STARFAB concept will also include provisions for robotic inspection and minor maintenance tasks, primarily for STARFAB's own integrity but possibly also as a service for spacecraft docking or berthing with STARFAB.
At the end, STARFAB will produce a roadmap outlining the path forward for technology maturation, model philosophy, market opportunities, and subsequent exploitation measures
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
1932 Zaventem
Belgium
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.