EROSS+ (European Robotic Orbital Support Services) objective is to demonstrate the European solutions for the Servicers and the Serviced LEO/GEO satellites, enabling a large range of efficient and safe orbital support services. This phase is the third and last one of the SRC in the frame of H2020 projects, building on the two previous ones that have allowed to increase the Technology Readiness Level of several key building blocks. The first phase involved six projects related to the development of technologies dedicated to robotics and in-orbit operations.
The third phase of the SRC is now to prepare the in-orbit demonstration of such new types of missions (up to preliminary design). EROSS+ obviously follows up on the EROSS activity and aims to develop a European solution for On-Orbit Servicing. These space vehicles will be able to carry out a wide range of operations in orbit, including controlled re-entry of space debris, robotic manipulation, the extension of a satellite's operational life, in-orbit re-fuelling, inspection, and many more. The project will start in February and will last 24 months. The goal consists in designing a demonstrator while progressing in parallel on the maturity of the key building blocks.
The demonstration mission concept includes the complete orbital rendezvous phase of a Servicer satellite with a collaborative Client satellite prepared for On-Orbit Servicing that shall be followed by the capture and then servicing operations. The whole idea is to validate the capability of carrying out on-orbit operations of this type for future missions. On-Orbit servicing space vehicles represent a real paradigm shift in space: upcoming systems will no longer be “abandoned to their fate” once in orbit, but can evolve over their lifetime. An in-orbit demonstration is expected by 2026.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101004346.
