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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.

Motivation: This study aimed to develop promising robotic fabrication methodologies for a fibre-based in-situ robotic fabrication process, for application in a lunar habitat as an alternative to existing additive manufacturing methodologies. Previous work has verified that fibre composite fabrication processes are capable of a high degree of automation and structural performance.

Due to the harsh nature of outer space, stringent requirements and performances are required from space systems. Thanks to evolving environmental awareness and the building up of a knowledge base at ESA, we are becoming more wary of the environmental impact of space activities on Earth. Through the GreenSat project, ESA wants to evolve from the assessment to reduction of environmental impact through redesigning an existing satellite mission. The project allows ESA to check the feasibility of implementing ecodesign in the development of space missions.

The main aim of OPTIMAL was to perform a feasibility study on a potential mission or system to detect marine plastic litter through satellite remote sensing. To do so, the project activities involved the following aspects: