The PERASPERA Activities

The PERASPERA work performed on its first year

PERASPERA will plan and accompany the SRC to attain its overall objective to deliver, within the 2023/2024 framework, key enabling technologies and demonstrate autonomous robotic systems at a significant scale as key elements for on-orbit satellite servicing and planetary exploration. As such the PERASPERA activity will run for 5 years and produce in this time a number of deliverables that will allow:

Evaluation on the state of the art and needs of stakeholders

These activities aim at:

  • Documenting the State of the art in developments in Space A&R across Europe according to the PERASPERA technology tree ( an enlarged version of the A&R branch of the ESA technology tree). The information is retrieved by  “implicit” consultation: published material, annual reports, information in possession of the PERASPERA partners
  • Capturing the needs of end users, developers and operators of Space A&R systems. The needs are catalogued  according to the PERASPERA technology tree, only on the first two branches (Missions and A&R Systems)
  • identifying the opportunities for spin-in (i.e. terrestrial robotics technology that can help space robotics) and spin-over (i.e. space robotics technology that can be transferred to the terrestrial sectors.The information was retrieved by
    • “implicit” consultation: e.g. requirements within the European Space Technology Requirement database (ESTER), Agency-level roadmaps, International WG roadmaps, Industrial associations roadmaps and Company R&T roadmaps
    • “explicit”consultation: questionnaires sent to the stakeholders.

These activities have produced the following documents:

  • D2.1-State of the art in Space Automation and Robotics Technologies
  • D2.3-Stakeholders needs for Space Automation and Robotics Technologies
  • D2.5-Spin out-over assessment

Definition and refinement of common conspicuous results

These activities have the goal to design 2 sets of “strawman” demo missions that address common applications. The mission are intended to be the a sort of boolean union of common needs from full-fledged  space robotics missions proposed for the future.The demo missions consider of course the limitations deriving from the SRC (budget, timing).The activities have produced the deliverable documents named:

  • D2.9-Orbital Study report
  • D2.10-Planetary Study report

Planning of SRC activities towards the results

Given the results of the system studies (providing the demo goal) this roadmapping activity has identified  the steps to get to the goal in the form of:

  • The roadmap document “D2.8-Space Automation and Robotics Dossier for Europe”
  • The collection of technical annexes for the draft call text, “D3.1-Compendium of SRC activities”

The first issue of the roadmap contains:

  • A high level description of the final goals of the SRC with the possible demo missions
  • An analysis of the PERASPERA technology tree with the priority identified in the common needs analysis

Evaluation and integration of intermediate SRC deliverables

These activities aim at a continuous caretaking of the roadmap execution through system management and engineering tasks and analysis of their progress of work. The goal is to ensure that the final results of the operational grants (OG) will fulfill the expectations and needs for follow-on activities and the requirements derived from mission and system design. Frequent periodic assessment  of the deliverables of  critical OGs will be executed to determine deviations or issues to be addressed within the OG or gaps to be addressed within the SRC at large. Based on the above, the PSA will act in order to ensure a smooth SRC progress and the achievement of SRC objectives. These actions could be, when necessary, among others:

  • Coordinating contents and work flow of operational grants
  • Possible adjustments of the Master Plan, that may also require revisiting other previous tasks
  • in coordination with EC/REA and the expert monitor, generate and provide recommendations to the consortia of the OG, if necessary, in order to make them fit within the original master plan, or to adjust them with respect to one another.