Simulated view of Space Station

A simulated image of how ATV-5’s technology demonstrator will ‘see’ the International Space Station using lidar – the light equivalent of radar.

The LIRIS demonstrator – short for Laser Infrared Imaging Sensors – on the last Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV, is the first step towards an ‘uncooperative’ rendezvous in space.

ESA has set its sights on allowing future spacecraft to rendezvous with ‘uncooperative’ targets, such as orbiting debris or a Mars sample capsule.