In this vision-based navigation (VBN) experiment, the second CubeSat (produced by Surrey Space Centre), DS-2, is ejected by the platform at very low velocity. The VBN camera and Lidar (produced between Airbus DS, CSEM and Inria) then collect data and send it via the platform back to the ground for processing.

Intelligent algorithms

Airbus DS has been strongly involved in the design of systems over the last years, with particular focus on applications such as planetary landing and orbital rendezvous, typically in the context of Mars sample return missions.

Based on this background and due to the increasing interest in active debris removal (ADR), solutions for autonomous, vision-based navigation for non-cooperative rendezvous have been investigated.

Dedicated image processing and navigation algorithms have been designed at Airbus Defence and Space and INRIA to meet this specific case, and some of them have already been tested over synthetic images and actual pictures of various spacecraft.

As the next step, the VBN demonstration onboard RemoveDEBRIS will validate vision-based navigation equipment and algorithms, through ground-based processing of actual images acquired in flight, in conditions fully representative of ADR.

VBN equipment

Images will be captured from two main optical sensors:

A conventional 2D camera (passive imager)

An innovative flash imaging LiDAR (active imager), developed by the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microsystems (CSEM).

It will be a scaled-down version of a 3D imaging device currently developed and tested in the frame of the “Fosternav” FP7 project for the European Commission, focusing on landing and rendezvous applications. All the data acquired during the VBN experiment will be processed on the ground with innovative algorithms.