“Prevention is better than cure,” robots and space garages

Giving a second life to satellites by creating a “space garage” and putting it into orbit This ensures maintenance and recycling of obsolete satellites in order to avoid transferring them to a cemetery orbit and thus increasing the number of debris It is the goal of teacher and researcher Stephanie Lizzie Destrese and the research team SaCLAB (Advance Space Concepts Laboratory) of the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-Supareo).

In the research phase, this “space garage” It can see daylight in about ten years. note “ In geostationary orbit, we have identified all the equipment and about 7 satellites that can be repaired annually for 15 years, and this will be enough to ensure the profitable activity of the future space mechanic Stephanie Lizzie Distress says.

The space garage, in its cheaper version, could be completely self-sufficient, with dimensions and mass approximately one-tenth of that of the International Space Station, Either 10 or 20 tons and contains different small shipsCapable of diagnosing, repairing, or towing to the garage for recycling.

As educator and researcher Stephanie Lizzie Destrese acknowledged to Le Point journalist Pauline Ducoseau: “ It’s an important project because it includes the operation of a major satellite as a manufacturing plant, an entire fleet of satellites to ensure fuel is transported between Earth and the station, and debris diagnostics satellites among others that provide round trips between the debris and the parent station. We also plan to include artificial intelligence in the garage capable of carrying out interventions independently. “.

This space or ‘ garage advanced spatial concepts », supported by Airbus and Ariane Group and benefiting from the technical cooperation of DLR, the German Space Agency and receiving advice and expertise from CNES

In fact, this space garage speaks to environmentalists Because it aligns with the winning trio: Recycling, Sustainability, and Circular Economy…

So space scientists and technicians plan to get spare parts from out-of-service satellites, for example solar panels, antennas or on-board computers, to connect them to the satellites that can be repaired.

Parts can also be produced using 3D printing And crushed debris in the garage to recover raw materials.