HELEN

High-fidELity tEsting enviroNment for Active Space Debris Removal

Space debris is caused by millions of non-functional, human-made objects left in space that become a hazard for current and future space missions. Yet, no Active Space Debris Removal (ASDR) systems currently exist. Many methods have been proposed, but most of them are still in the technology development stages. Thus, on-ground experimental facilities for the test, verification and validation of ASDR will be critical for pushing the technology to the operational stage. SpaceR and Spacety target to explore, within the HELEN project, the potential of the 2D micro-gravity facility (Zero-G lab) for validating FlexeS, a small Flexible Capture System for debris removal. Advanced computational methods will be developed combining HIL and SIL to recreate high-fidelity in orbit scenarios. The integration of virtual and physical systems will enable close-to real testing, speeding up the transition between the development and deployment stages of ASDR systems.