Rescuing a stranded satellite in space - experimental study of satellite captures using a space manipulator

Space systems have become essential elements providing services of telecommunication, Earth observation and navigation to support our daily lives. With the expanding space activities, more and more space systems have become essential elements providing services of telecommunication, Earth observation and navigation to support our daily lives. With the expanding space activities, more and more satellites are being injected into wrong orbits for their missions and stranded due to failures of rockets. There is a potential need to rescue them by capturing and towing them to the appropriate orbits. Manipulator capture using visual servoing is one of the most promising ways to capture a stranded satellite that does not have a special mechanical interface or a visual marker on it. A study is now being conducted to design a manipulator-based capturing system, taking into account the special aspects of space such as lighting and available computing power. The first results of an experimental study are presented with an explanation of the experimental system in this paper.