With the current best knowledge, equipment such as Star-Trackers, RIUs, PCDUs, Batteries are elements of great uncertainty and for which the demise models need to be matured and validated. In some of these cases this may be related to lack of knowledge and validated models by test leading to conservative assumptions on materials used, modelling approach and break-up process these are units that may not demise in system level simulations (unlike what was indicated in previous studies).

The ambitious goal to fully apply Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in future projects and to establish the methodology across ESA missions, engineering domains, customer-supplier boundaries and lifecycle phases demands that the entire lifecycle is addressed. This includes - among others - procurement, operations and the transition of engineering model data from Phase 0/A through to Phase E. For instance, the utilisation of digital system engineering data or models upon handover to the operator is limited and based on documents or static database artefacts.

Digital engineering tools have been used by space thermal analysts for decades, in particular the core modellers, and thermal/radiative kernels used in every space project. However, many parts of the thermal engineering and analysis process are still manual, data exchange is not standardised. Often these parts of the process lie between different main activities, or occur when pure ?thermal analysis? meets adjacent disciplines.

For space applications, the reliability of any component with respect to mechanical failure is a key requirement, especially in the case of ceramic components, where a single defect at a critical position may lead to crack initiation, growth and fracture of the component under mechanical or thermomechanical load. Instead of proof testing, an automatized and reliable method based on Computed Tomography (CT) non-destructive testing methods supported by a fast data evaluation would reduce ceramic components development risk and cost.

The constantly raising worldwide interest in the execution of rendezvous, proximity and capture operations for on-orbit services such as repair, refuelling, and tugging has highlighted the lack of clear and widely accepted technical requirements and their associated verification and validation methods for ensuring that rendezvous and proximity operations are conducted in a safe manner.Previous activities (e.g.

The spectral filter is a critical element to reject unwanted background and straylight onto the receive detector during day and night operation. The activity consists in elaborating its optimized design (interference filters vs. fiber Bragg gratings vs. volume Bragg gratings) after trade-offs taking into account the overall design of the optical antenna (e.g. numerical aperture of the beam, tunability vs. spectral width, etc.).