STAR Lab

Surrey Space Centre

Clean Space: Robotic Space Debris Removal

Space debris (also known as space junk), is among the major hazards for sustainable Earth orbital operations involving satellites and/or astronauts at space stations. The Space Technology for Autonomous & Robotic systems Laboratory (STAR LAB) led by Professor Yang Gao at the Surrey Space Centre of the University of Surrey have developed cutting edge research on autonomous robotic manipulation and grasping for active space debris removal. This Robot Lab Live demo will showcase some of the underpinning technologies, including vision-based pose estimation, navigation and control that enable future spacecraft to autonomously grasp and manipulate non-cooperative targets like space debris in the extreme space environments with radiation, varying lighting and micro-gravity conditions.