ELSA-D debris removal spacecraft and Gen 2 Docking Plate (Astroscale Japan)

Astroscale’s ELSA-d is the world’s first commercial mission to prove the core technologies necessary for on-orbit satellite servicing in LEO (debris removal). The mission, which consists of two satellites — a servicer designed to safely remove debris from orbit and a client that serves as a piece of replica debris — was launched as a stack into a 550 km orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in March 2021. The first demonstration, in which the servicer released the client and manually performed magnetic docking, was completed on August 25, 2021, successfully validating the capture system, on-board sensors and cameras. Gediz was the FEA / Structural Analysis engineer on this project. He carried out all detailed structural analysis from concept phase to launch of the ELSA-D spacecraft and also supported all structural qualification tests and correlated all FEMs against test data. His work aided the design of the spacecraft and was pivotal for success of the ELSA-D mission.

Gediz was also the lead Structural Analysis engineer for Astroscale’s Docking plate development which was designed for on-orbit servicing and end-of-life removal of satellite missions. This unique docking system was designed to work efficiently with multiple types of capture systems including magnetic, robotic arms/claws,

In addition to leading the analysis Gediz was also heavily involved in the detailed design of the product all the way from concept to manufacture. He performed FEM based optimisation analysis which helped the team converge on the optimal design of the docking system. Gediz also supported the qualification test campaign which substantiated the docking plate strength for launch vibration loads and simulated worst case in-orbit capture events and orbit thermal loading.

The product successfully launched into the space market in June 2023 and has been purchased by satellite companies including Astro-Digital to be employed on a modular spacecraft bus.

Image Credits: Astroscale