Summary of NASDA's ETS-VII robot satellite mission

Abstract

The National Space Development Agency of Japan launched ETS-VII (Engineering Test Satellite No.7) on November 28, 1997, to conduct rendezvous docking and space robot technology experiments. ETS-VII is the world's first satellite that used a robot arm on a satellite. The robot arm was 2m long and was teleoperated from a ground control station. Mission of ETS-VII lasted for two years and yielded much experience and many results. This paper summarizes experiences and results of the ETS-VII robot satellite.