The basic goal of this project was to analyse how the usage of non-conventional data (i.e. 'data of opportunity') in conjunction with conventional data could help improve the estimation of parameters for weather and space weather. Conventional data it is considered to be data coming from well-known sources such as permanent GNSS receivers (e.g. receivers from IGS or EUREF networks) while non-conventional data is considered to be GNSS data from research vessels or mass-market GNSS receivers (such as smartphones or other single-frequency GNSS chipsets).

The objective of this activity was to propose a general infrastructure of an end-to-end simulator (E2ES) for space science missions, namely an E2ES requirements baseline, reference architecture and an associated library of software models (building blocks, BB) to promote reuse, standardisation and reduction of engineering costs by defining a products/science validation process throughout the lifecycle based on an E2ES.

The Thales Alenia Space study team completed a 13 month contract to study the feasibility of Active Debris Removal within mega-constellations. Within the Clean Space initiative, ESA searches for proactive answers to the environmental challenges which are faced both on Earth and in space. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) has already highlighted the important topic of mega-constellations, which represent a step change in the future space environment due to the proliferation of small satellites.

The objective of this activity was to understand the operational complexity of large mega-constellation systems, and the potential needs to operate these, including the complexity of collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAMs). This objective was achieved by:

Several hundred mission scenarios were analysed with a high level of detail both at mission analysis and mass budget level, to properly identify robust and feasible solutions. Three of them make use of both staging and aero-braking to reduce the spacecraft wet mass (mass with fuel), and they all rely either on chemical propulsion or on a mixed system combining a chemical engine with two very powerful electrical thrusters (ARM engines).

Testing the validity of general relativity at cosmological and microscopic scales is a challenging open question. The impediment at cosmological scales is our lack of understanding of dark matter and dark energy. At microscopic scales, it is the unknown effect of gravity on quantum mechanics. Recently, space-based matter wave interferometers have been proposed as candidates for addressing certain aspects of both these problems.

XIPE is designed to be launched with a VEGA-C vehicle into an orbit of 550 km and <6° inclination. With this orbit, eclipses last about 35 minutes. Due to remaining spacecraft fragments the mission is planned to end by controlled re-entry. The baseline ground station is Kourou either for S/S or S/X telemetry band, albeit Malindi (or Singapore) is additionally available, if necessary, for additional downloading capability in case of particularly bright sources. The mission duration is 3+2 years.

The CubISSat study investigates the feasibility of operating a multi-purpose small satellite in the International Space Station (ISS) environment whose aim is to provide the ground and flight crew with effective tools to cope with a variety of situations, potentially avoiding to rely on complex robotics and extravehicular activities as currently conceived.

The main goal of GEROS-ISS is to demonstrate the capabilities of GNSS remote sensing to derive geophysical parameters of ocean, ice and land surfaces, which are associated with geophysical research with special focus on relevant climate change phenomena.

ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) is both a Technology Mission of Opportunity, and a mission to greatly improve our understanding of asteroid physical properties and their response to a hypervelocity impact event on their surface. The AIM mission is combined with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). Both missions complement one another in a joint asteroid impact test and observation campaign called Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA). The Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIRI) is Thermal IR imager of the AIM mission.