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Satnews Daily
May 4th, 2016

Airbus Defence & Space Is Cleaning Up


Airbus Defence and Space will lead the project TeSeR (Technology for Self-Removal of Spacecraft) team to develop technology to reduce the risk of spacecraft colliding with debris in space.

Orbital space is becoming increasingly congested. Space debris threatens space-based infrastructures which are vital for life on Earth. Disused spacecraft are a potentially dangerous source of space debris. The TeSeR project develops technologies that will ensure a sustainable space environment for future generations.


Artistic rendition of TeSeR. Image is courtesy of Airbus Defence and Space.

Together with its ten European partners, the company will develop a prototype for a cost-efficient and highly reliable module to ensure that future spacecraft don’t present a collision risk once they reach the end of their nominal operational lifetimes or suffer an in-service failure. The module may also function as a removal back-up in the case of a loss of control over a spacecraft.
 
Airbus Defence and Space will act as the coordinator of the consortium and will be responsible for project management, technical coordination and the development of innovative attitude control systems.
 
Under Grant Agreement No 687295, part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, the TeSeR study program will receive EU funding of more than 2.8 million euros and will run through 2018. Airbus Defence and Space will also be investing their own resources in the project.

space-airbusds.com/