Credit: Thales Alenia Space
A group of companies led by Thales Alenia Space has completed the System Preliminary Design Review for Italy’s In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) demonstration mission, funded through the government’s €191.5-billion National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
In May 2023, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) awarded a €235-million contract for the development of an in-orbit servicing demonstration mission to a Thales Alenia Space-led Temporary Grouping of Enterprises, a joint bidding structure defined under Italian public contracting law. In addition to Thales Alenia Space, the group includes Leonardo, Avio, D-Orbit, and Telespazio.
The IOS mission will involve demonstrating a wide range of in-orbit servicing applications, including refuelling, component repair or replacement, orbital transfer, and atmospheric re-entry for decommissioning and debris removal.
Thales Alenia Space is responsible for delivering the autonomous robotic vehicle, which will be equipped with a robotic arm developed by Leonardo in collaboration with SAB Aerospace, the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). Telespazio, in partnership with ALTEC, is responsible for the ground segment. D-Orbit is developing the target satellite, which is based on the company’s ION platform. Finally, Avio is developing the Orbital Support and Propulsion Module for the orbital stages.
On 30 October, Thales Alenia Space announced that it had successfully completed the System Preliminary Design Review for the mission, confirming the technical maturity of the system architecture and paving the way for the detailed design phase. This next phase of the mission’s development will begin once it has been approved at ASI’s upcoming programmatic review, scheduled for late 2025.