Development and Simulation of a novel mission for satellite maintenance using an inflatable robotic arm.

The geostationary orbit satellite market is experiencing continuous growth, reflecting an increasing demand for telecommunications, meteorology, and Earth observation services. Alongside this growth, there is a rising need to provide maintenance and refueling services to existing satellites without prematurely decommissioning them to a graveyard orbit, where they would be treated as space debris. In recent years, innovative missions have been developed to extend the operational life of Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO) satellites through in-situ refueling and repairs. This master's thesis develops a new mission concept to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the process. The proposal entails equipping future generations of satellites with an inflatable robotic arm, designated as PopUp. Being inflatable and lightweight, PopUp allows on-orbit repairs during the satellite's operational life, reducing the necessity for replacement launches and minimizing operational costs. The concept involves sending refueling Pods from Earth once the satellites equipped with PopUp run out of fuel. These Pods are small satellites with engines and fuel to perform station-keeping maneuvers on multiple target satellites. These Pods would extend the satellite's operational life by six years. The launch of the charging Pods from Earth would make the refueling process iterative and repeatable. To develop this new mission type, extensive research was conducted on the types of launchers and propulsion systems required for transfers from Low Earth Orbits (LEO) to GEO. These analyses enabled precise estimation of the transfer duration and the amount of propellant needed. Furthermore, various workspaces were studied to determine the reachable areas with different arm lengths, ensuring that the robotic arm can operate effectively in various operational scenarios. Finally, an advanced multi-body analysis was performed using Simulink/Simscape to simulate the robotic arm's movements during the grasping and docking maneuvers with the charging Pod. The two bodies were considered in free-floating conditions, requiring careful management of the system's dynamics and kinematics. To ensure the maneuver's success, the primary satellite was stabilized using reaction wheels, while the use of cameras and the robotic arm's kinematics allowed for the automation of the maneuver, making the control system robust and effective. This integrated approach would allow, once the totality of satellites in orbit equipped with PopUp is reached, to reduce the risks of failure and potentially make the satellites refuelable multiple times during their operational life thanks to the refueling Pods. The next steps for this type of application include the ability to send a possible toolkit to solve issues that the robotic arm alone could not handle, and also the design and simulation of the grasping phase for Pod and satellite docking and detailed design of a dispenser system. This can provide the satellite with automation capabilities, enabling it to autonomously perform maintenance and management operations.