Airbus Defence and Space

Over the last few years, a space resurgence is underway.

As new missions and services are being conceived, new use-cases are taking shape to address a range of novel scenarios including active-debris removal (ADR), in-space servicing and in-orbit manufacturing and assembly.

At the core of these scenarios, robotics becomes an enabler, a cornerstone that accelerates the implementation of these missions.

Since 2019, Airbus has been developing VISPA, the Versatile In-Space and Planetary Arm, a modular multipurpose robotic arm targeted at these next generation space activities.

The objective of this development focuses on bringing down the cost of these solutions to a level where it ceases to be the key cost driver and a barrier, while still meeting the critical requirements to operate reliably and safely in space.

As part of a two-arm factory, the VISPA manipulators provides the unique ability for two manipulators to service themselves, exchanging joints that have reached their end-of-life, or developed a fault.

Not only does this provide mission robustness and system dependability for critical tasks, it will also affect significantly the economics of building these future large assemblies by allowing the replacement of joints over the mission lifetime, transitioning from robotic-driven mission to robotics-as-consumable.