The Manipulation of Non-cooperative Targets and On Orbit Servicing

There is a need to develop new technologies to achieve the capabilities of removing non-cooperative objects in the Earth Orbits. These technologies can be further reused for In-Orbit Servicing of current operational satellites to extend their operational lifetime.

A mission that captures and removes a piece of Non-Cooperative space debris can be divided into the following mission phases after launch:

• Approach/Rendezvous
• Capture and Docking
• Docked Operations (De-tumbling, Refuelling etc…)
• Separation/De-orbiting

In the Stardust-R project, the technology research and development for the above phases are divided as follows:

• Information about Approach and Rendezvous can be found in the following page on Close Proximity Navigation
• Information about the rest of the phases is generalized as research on Space Robotics: On-Orbit Servicing and Debris Removal