expérience de technologie robotique

CONT: Even today, a geostationary satellite, whose useful life has ended, must be abandoned in space. The experimental servicing satellite ESS applies robotics to resolve the problem of servicing a non-cooperative target in or near to a geostationary orbit, a region of space still out of reach to manned spaceflight. A three-month demonstration flight of ESS has been planned and all phases of its mission have been defined. These include the acquisition, inspection and servicing of an orbiting satellite through to parking it in a ""graveyard"" orbit. The project builds on the experience gained with the robotics technology experiment Rotex, flown on the D2 Mission.