A Brief Review of the Space Docking Mechanism

With the continuous development of space technology and the increasing number of spacecraft, on-orbit services are becoming increasingly important. The rendezvous and docking technology is one of the most important technologies for on-orbit services, involving spacecraft assembly, spacecraft on-orbit capture, and so on, among which the design of space docking mechanisms is the key to the successful realization of spacecraft docking. Based on the needs of large spacecraft assembly and light and small spacecraft on-orbit services, focusing on engineering realization, some important space docking mechanisms that have been verified in orbit and some new design concepts have been summarized. According to the application scenarios and complexity, the space docking mechanisms are classified into two types, large and light, and the form and working principle of each type of mechanism are studied separately to summarize the technical characteristics and development trend. This overview is intended to provide initial insight and guidance on the design options for docking mechanisms required for different space missions in real engineering.