The E.Inspector mission objectives are to:* Image an ESA owned space debris in its current status * Use obtained images for the verification and validation of the e.deorbit or space tug GNC sensorsFollowing a successful ESA internal CDF study, the mission is now proposed to go to phase A to be studied by industry.Several drivers make this mission design challenging:* A possible long and large (delta-V) transfer to the target* Compliance to Space Debris Mitigation guidelines from possibly high altitude* A close RDV while maintaining keep-out zones and ensuring passively safe trajectories* Tr

N/A

ESA’s Technical Dossier on Data Systems and On-board Computers roadmap identifies trend going towards increasing the modularity level implemented at the individual equipment supplier. Modularity on suppliers’ RTU product portfolio is something that we often already see these days. Main issue with this approach is that each manufacturer wants to bound usage of its RTUs equipment by incorporating it into avionics stack, like OBC/CMDU, TM/TC, etc.

The ISS Exploration Capabilities Study (IECS) is a joint study undertaken by ESA in cooperation with the 4 other ISS partners: NASA, JAXA, Rosscosmos, and CSA. In the IECS study, the human exploration programme for the period 2021-2030 is addressed. In this study it is proposed that in the first half of the 2020(s), a joint programme could start by building a Cis-Lunar Transport Habitat (CTH) vehicle. The CTH will be placed on a NRO orbit around the Moon. Safety of underlying trajectories is critical for rendezvous to human-tended infrastructure.

In 2009, the Nanosat study recommended a high degree of integration between data handling, AOCS and power distribution. Meanwhile, industry has come with innovate solutions where AOCS sensors are miniaturised and can be progressively introduced fully or partially in the central processor, typically coarse gyros, GNSS receivers or the processing part of the Star Trackers, leaving only optical heads or GNSS antennas to be accommodated as external units.

A major challenge in the field of control is to achieve reliable, aggressive, high-speed control of autonomous vehicles. In space, this may involve spacecraft that need to land under harsh conditions, or even – in an extreme scenario – negotiating asteroid debris fields at high speeds. On Earth, the exemplar task that draws most attention currently is high-speed autonomous flight of drones. The application of optimal control on board limited platforms has been severely hindered by the large computational requirements of current state-of-the-art implementations.