Within the last two decades, space-based technology has become a ubiquitous component of everyday life. For example, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) produces subscription television services for over 12 million direct and indirect customers in the UK and Ireland, and 40 million people daily use the Dutch TomTom company's solutions which provide in-car navigation systems and tracking systems for fleet management. Emergency services rely extensively on satellite technology.In this research we will investigate the applicability of Cloud Computing and data handling for the important international problem of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Debris removal and mitigation. This is an important theme area within the European Space Agency, which protects Europe's citizens and satellite services by detecting space hazards. One of the key goals recently set by Obama was to Strengthen stability in space through: ...; improved information collection and sharing for space object collision avoidance; protection of critical space systems and supporting infrastructures, with special attention to the critical interdependence of space and information systems; and strengthening measures to mitigate orbital debris. (June 2010). A highlighted area of interest was to Develop, maintain, and use space situational awareness (SSA) information from commercial, civil, and national security sources to detect, identify, and attribute actions in space that are contrary to responsible use and the long-term sustainability of the space environment. On Feb 10th the US Iridium-33 and the Russian Cosmos 2251 collided, resulting in debris which could place at risk many other active satellites in this low-earth orbit position. Results of a simulation of this event can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFA74PEs44k [checked Oct 20th 2010]Currently we track around 20,000 objects larger than ~10cm in satellite orbits. In the future, with higher fidelity systems, we will be tracking 500,000+ objects of size 1cm+. This poses significant challenges to be able to scale up the compute resources and complex algorithms required to process the data which arrives twice-daily. We propose to investigate how Cloud computing can be used to tackle these challenges. Cloud computing is internet based computing which allows resources, software, data and services to be provided on demand. Many individuals and businesses use Cloud based services for email, web searching, photo sharing and social networking. Scientists and Engineers are using a similar paradigm to make use of massive amounts of compute and data handling resources provided by companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google.Specifically we will investigate the efficacy of the Cloud to develop and test algorithms to target debris for removal and understand the efficiency of the new algorithm - this is important to enable us to perform the modelling required as we track more objects. This is based on the Travelling Purchaser Problem, a variant of the widely used/solved Traveling Salesman Problem. We will investigate whether the Cloud can provide a scalable, reliable and robust infrastructure for the ongoing requirement to aggregate and process ever-increasing volumes of data to propagate orbits, detect events, and plan missions. Such mission planning is an important aspect of launching new satellites and removing existing debris from orbit. We have already built a prototype using Microsoft's Azure Cloud platform and this research will enable us to increase the efficiency of the calculations and improve their scalability. Understanding how the Cloud can be used in this area of science and engineering will also help shape how Cloud providers, such as Microsoft, will provision services in the future which can be used to perform research in disciplines as diverse as healthcare, environmental management, bioinformatics and energy production, which are important challenges for society as a whole.

The project “Per aspera (ad astra)” (Latin meaning “Through hardships to the stars”) has developed an integrated master plan (a.k.a. roadmap) of activities and associated activity descriptions, for a Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) in Space Robotics Technology. The roadmap has been implemented within the SRC through operational grants, which have been recommended by PERASPERA and issued by the European Commission. The overall objective of the SRC has been to deliver, within the 2023/2024 framework, key enabling technologies and demonstrate autonomous robotic systems at a significant scale as key elements for on-orbit satellite servicing and planetary exploration. The PERASPERA objectives have been measurable through the immediate deliverables of the project, these being: • the roadmap, i.e. the master plan to coordinate all the activities for the whole duration of the SRC (delivered during the first year and updated twice) • draft text for the calls to award operational grants This proposal

Advances in robotics and autonomous systems are changing the way space is explored in ever more fundamental ways. Both human and scientific exploration missions are impacted by these developments. Where human exploration is concerned, robots act as proxy explorers: deploying infrastructure for human arrival, assisting human crews during in-space operations, and managing assets left behind. As humans extend their reach into space, they will increasingly rely on robots enabled by artificial intelligence to handle many support functions and repetitive tasks, allowing crews to apply themselves to problems that call for human cognition and judgment. Where scientific exploration is concerned, robotic spacecraft will continue to go out into Earth orbit and the far reaches of deep space, venturing to remote and hostile worlds, and returning valuable samples and data for scientific analysis. The aim of FAIR-SPACE is to go beyond the-state-of-the-art in robotic sensing and perception, mobility and manipulation, on-board and on-ground autonomous capabilities, and human-robot interaction, to enable space robots to perform more complex tasks on long-duration missions with minimal dependence on ground crew. More intelligent and dexterous robots will be more self-sufficient, being able to detect and respond to anomalies on board autonomously and requiring far less teleoperation. The research will see novel technologies being developed for robotic platforms used in orbit or on planet surfaces, namely: future on-orbit robots tasked with repairing satellites, assembling large space telescopes, manufacturing in space, removal of space junk; and future surface robots, also known as planetary rovers, for surveying, observation, extraction of resources, and deploying infrastructure for human arrival and habitation; a further case study will target human-robot interoperability aboard the International Space Station. The research will merge the best available off-the-shelf hardware and software solutions with trail-blazing innovations and new standards and frameworks, aiming at the development of a constellation of space robotics prototypes and tools. This aims to accelerate the prototyping of autonomous systems in a scalable way, where the innovations and methodologies developed can be rapidly spun out for wide adoption in the space sector worldwide. FAIR-SPACE directly addresses two of the priorities in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper: robotics & artificial intelligence and satellite & space technologies. The clear commitment offered by the industrial partners demonstrates the need for establishing a national asset that will help translate academic outputs into innovative products/services. Our impact plan will ensure we can maximise co-working with user organisations, align our work with other programmes (e.g. InnovateUK) and effectively transfer our research outputs and technology to other sectors beyond space such as nuclear, deep mining and offshore energy. FAIR-SPACE will therefore not only help in wealth creation but also help develop a robotics UK community with a leading international profile.

2-3SST2016-17 is the "Second and third funding line in 2016 and 2017 for the further development of a European SST Service provision function” project proposed under H2020 funding by the EUSST Consortium composed of five participating Member States in coordination with the EU SatCen. The project starts on 01/10/2017 and is composed of a Part I planned for a duration of 15 months until 31/12/2018 and Part II planned for a duration of 36 months until 30/09/2020. The aim is twofold: (1) to continue to support the pooling of national resources on the SST objectives outlined in the Decision No 541/2014/EU in accordance with the Action Plan outlined in the EUSSTFPA and (2) continue to support the SST evolution needs in line with the objectives and challenges of Horizon 2020 related to protecting Europe´s investment made in space infrastructure. This will be performed by (1) consolidating the EUSST functions and SST capability at European level, supported by the implementation of an Integrated Management for a

The Electric Propulsion Innovation & Competitiveness 2.0 (EPIC2) project aims to complete the activities initiated by the project EPIC (640199) in line with the objectives of the Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2018-2020 (5.iii. Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies - Space) provisions in the frame of the Programme Support Activity (PSA), for the implementation of the Electric Propulsion technology Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) in Horizon 2020. The PSA consortium will ensure the coordination and necessary exchange of information and knowledge between the different SRC Operational Grants within the Electric Propulsion SRC by providing: • Assessment of the various activities and results of the respective SRC Operational Grants in support to REA. • Update of the master plan, as needed, to coordinate all the activities for the duration of the respective SRC Operational Grants. • Identification of the activities required to address the challenge of the respective topics. • Coherence of actions