Responsable: Aníbal Ollero Baturone / Alejandro Suárez Fernández-Miranda
Tipo de Proyecto/Ayuda: Plan Estatal 2021-2023 - Colaboración Público-Privada
Referencia: CPP-2021-008629
Fecha de Inicio: 01-09-2022
Fecha de Finalización: 31-08-2025

Empresa/Organismo financiador/es:

• Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

Socios:

• Space Robotic Workers, S.L.

Equipo:

• Equipo de Investigación:
  • José Luis Andrade Pineda
  • Begoña C. Arrue Ullés
• Equipo de Trabajo:
  • Antonio González Morgado (alta: 09/10/2023 - baja: 30/09/2024)

Contratados:

• Investigadores:
  • José Manuel Carmona Téllez
  • Alessandro Garzelli
  • Nelson Andrés Molina Aguiar
  • Alessandro Scalvini
  • Kumud Darshan Yadav

Resumen del proyecto:

The maintenance of the space environment is essential to ensure the continuous service provided by satellites in critical applications like telecommunications, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning and mapping, meteorology, Earth observation, space exploration or defense. The increasing number of satellites launched every year due mainly to the commercial satellite mega-constellations for broadband communications and Earth Observation (up to 1700 per year over the next decade) and the limited lifespan of these platforms, has raised the problem of managing the space debris to prevent damages or malfunctions due to collision risk with other satellites or spacecraft vehicles. Solutions like deorbiting, refuelling old platforms and in-space maintenance are being proposed in order to mitigate this risk, guiding to a variety of commercial orbital services. In parallel, the strong interest on space shown in last years by private companies, particularly with the space tourism and commercial exploitation of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has motivated a current trend with significant investment in the development of space technology and new services, promoting the participation of both public and private sectors. It is therefore foreseeable that space robotics becomes a strategic technology field in the next years with significant economic and social impact.

In this context, this project addresses the development of a robotic on-orbit servicing technology prototype, considering a service platform consisting of a Rendez-Vous Service Vehicle (RVSV) equipped with a dual arm manipulator able to capture, docking and perform maintenance operations on client platforms, either satellites or space vehicles. The intended functionalities include de-orbiting, on-orbit assembly, maintenance, repair, refuelling, or plug-and-play modules.

The Spanish SME Space Robotics Worker SL (SRW), founded by entrepreneurs with a broad experience in the space sector, leads the project AROSA with the ambition to play a key role in the Orbital Servicing market segment. The project will rely on the market and application knowledge of the industry (SRW) and the technology expertise of the GRVC Robotics Labs of the University of Seville (USE), and particularly on flying robotic manipulation and dual arm aerial manipulation systems with on-board perception and planning capabilities, areas in which GRVC is playing a leadership role. Members of the GRVC Robotics Labs also have specific knowledge on the design and development of actuators employing components similar to the ones employed in the space manipulators, as well as in different types of flying robotic platforms.

Finally, the development project will ultimately produce advances to be applied beyond the orbit servicing market. There are multiple applications and applicability markets for the underlying technology to be developed: telehealth and telecare, critical infrastructure supervision, communications, automated manufacturing markets, among others.