EXTREMA Project | ERC
To what extent can we navigate the solar system free of human supervision?
The Engineering Extremely Rare Events in Astrodynamics for Deep-Space Missions in Autonomy (EXTREMA) project wants to challenge and revolutionise the current paradigm under which spacecraft are piloted in the interplanetary space.
A multitude of miniaturised probes will soon permeate the inner solar system, aiming at the exploration of rocky planets and minor bodies. Nowadays, deep-space probes are piloted from ground. Although this is reliable, ground control slots will saturate soon, thus hampering the current momentum in space exploration.
EXTREMA’s goal is to enable self-driving miniatuarized spacecraft, which are machines that can perform Guidance, Navigation, and Control operations in a totally autonomous fashion.
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LUMIO | ESA
What are the spatial and temporal characteristics of meteoroids impacting the lunar surface?
The Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observer (LUMIO) mission’s goal is to observe, quantify, and characterize the meteoroid impacts by detecting their flashes on the lunar farside.
Earth-based lunar observations are restricted by weather, geometric, and illumination conditions, while a lunar orbiter can improve the detection rate of lunar meteoroid impact flashes, as it would allow for longer monitoring periods.
LUMIO is a CubeSat mission to a quasi-halo orbit at Earth–Moon L2 that complements Earth based observations on the lunar nearside, to provide global information on the lunar meteoroid environment and contribute to Lunar Situational Awareness (LSA).
M-ARGO | ESA
The Miniaturised Asteroid Remote Geophysical Observer (MARGO) is the first miniaturized spacecraft designed by ESA for asteroid minining porpuses.
The goal of MARGO’s mission is to
MARGO would exploit a piggyback launch opportunity which would take it toward the Sun-Earth Lagrange point. At this point, the 12 U CubeSat would use its own on board propulsion to reach the target destination in completely autonomy. Here, the CubeSat would survey the asteroid employing a multispectral camera and a laser altimeter to look for resources such as hydrated minerals that could be extracted in future.
MILANI | ESA
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