On-orbit servicing

Abstract

Space robots were the topic of this paper. While on earth, nobody would follow such advice; in space, there are few other options than to replace a malfunctioning spacecraft. There are no repair shops and gas stations in the Earth orbit. Because of the lack of so-called on-orbit servicing (OOS) opportunities, some malfunctioning spacecraft continue operational work with reduced or hardly any performance. The only general modification, which can currently be undertaken to an arbitrary spacecraft in orbit, is a software update. In this paper, exploration and manipulation capabilities of space robots were discussed. Teleprescence through a data relay satellite and teleoperation capabilities were mentioned and discussed.