The technology has been developed and tested at UKAEA’s Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) robotics centre in Culham, Oxfordshire.
In a statement, Dr Indira Nagesh, principal engineer of UKAEA, said: “The rewards for recreating the ultimate fusion energy source here on Earth are enormous, with the potential for near limitless power for generations to come. Right now, we’re proving that our technology has lots more immediate benefits in adjacent sectors.
“Identifying technical challenges and solving them for in-orbit servicing and repair is exciting. It will greatly help to improve the longevity of spacecraft and reduce space litter.”
There are around 6,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth with 40 per cent of them operational. This space debris poses a danger to all spacecraft which have to perform thousands of avoidance manoeuvres each year to prevent collisions. Servicing and maintenance can extend operational lifetimes and the same technologies can be used to support active debris removal missions.
Jeremy Hadall, robotics development lead at the Catapult, said: “Improving our ability to perform close-proximity operations in orbit with advanced robotics, will unlock a range of commercial opportunities in space including debris removal, spacecraft servicing, and even the manufacture of large structures in orbit. This trial moves the space industry one step closer to realising these exciting possibilities.”
Hadall continued: “While the space industry has assembled structures and serviced them in the past, it has been extremely costly and required national agencies to lead. However, there is a significant commercial requirement to remove these barriers using robotics as we expand our reach beyond Earth.”
A replica section of a typical spacecraft provided by Satellite Applications Catapult was assembled at RACE.
Demonstrations were carried out in the Automated Inspection and Maintenance Test Unit (AIM-TU), a highly modular robot cell for research and development containing two UR10e (Universal Robotics) robots with 1.3m reach.
A ‘digital twin’ of the operation was also completed to show how operators can take over the manual command of the operation and train the system to carry out new missions.
The automation is not space-qualified, but engineers have demonstrated how such processes can be replicated in space by understanding technical challenges in implementing remote handling.
“The demonstrations have shown how fusion energy technologies can support faster and safer operations,” said Hadall. “We’re pleased to be working with UKAEA on this collaboration and envisage the relationship to continue as both organisations look to spur innovation by addressing common challenges.”
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