Airbus Defence and Space Sas

Cyril Tourneur

Kristen Lagadec

René Cheynet De Beaupre

Dominique Poncet

A projectile intended for damping a spacecraft () comprising a main body () and active attitude control means () comprises a harpoon and is intended to equip a space delivery vehicle to be projected towards the spacecraft. It comprises a passive damper () mounted such that it is fixed on the harpoon and suitable for generating, in cooperation with the Earth's magnetic field, a damping torque. That passive damper () comprises an outer enclosure () and an inner body () configured such that:

Projectile intended for damping a spacecraft and corresponding space delivery vehicle

A system and method for transferring a satellite from an initial orbit into a mission orbit. The method includes anchoring to the satellite of an external unit having a tank containing a reserve of propellants. The system includes an autonomous spacecraft having an electric propulsion module and a small internal reserve of propellants, located in a parking orbit close to the initial orbit. The spacecraft with the external unit attached to the satellite is docketed in an initial orbit, to produce a fluidic connection of the propellant tank of the external unit to the propulsion module of the spacecraft. The external unit and satellite is transferred into the mission orbit by the electric propulsion module of the spacecraft supplied with propellants directly from the external unit, thereby releasing the satellite into the mission orbit.

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Toulouse, France

Cyril Tourneur