Orbital Space Robotics

Orbital space robotics is the engineering discipline concerned with the maneuvering and operations of orbiting spacecraft systems that physically interact with a second object by using actively controlled onboard mechanisms that enable manipulation or mobility (typically one or more robotic manipulators). That second object can be another orbiting spacecraft, orbital debris or a natural small body such as an asteroid. There are many existing and emerging applications of orbital space robotics. To name a few: spacecraft servicing, assembly of large space structures, removal of orbital debris, space manufacturing and exploration and utilization of comets and asteroids.

This book offers a rigorous treatment of orbital space robotics, from its foundations to problem cases, focusing on mathematical modeling and flight mechanics. The book is intended for graduate students, researchers and practitioners. In the first part of the book, the fundamental concepts and methods of engineering mechanics, astrodynamics, and robotics are presented, as those constitute the pillar subjects of orbital space robotics. In the second part of the book, paradigmatic problem cases are modeled and analyzed, including free-floating/free-flying maneuvers of a satellite-manipulator system, grasping and manipulation of tumbling objects and orbiting and touching down on small bodies. A rigorous vector-tensor approach in equation writing is adopted, resulting in compact and coordinate-free expressions. For the equation of motions of multi-body systems, both an explicit and a recursive approach are presented.