The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Animation showing a possible interoperability application in orbit of payload deployment and retrieval operations with ESA’s reusable Space Rider.
Space Rider is a versatile uncrewed robotic laboratory about the size of two minivans. This video shows operations of how Space Rider could fly to an orbital platform and deliver payloads using a robotic arm as well as retrieving other payloads to return them to Earth. In the near future platforms orbiting Earth could allow for cheap and efficient experimentation and research in the low Earth-orbit economy. Whereas Space Rider could stay in orbit for two months, by delivering payloads to orbital platforms like this the hardware could stay in orbit for as long as needed and also be retrieved and returned to Earth, allowing for manufacturing in space, to benefit research in pharmaceutics, biomedicine, biology and physical science.
The animation uses some artistic license to show how the operations could be carried out. In reality for example the rendezvous between Space Rider and the orbital platform would require Space Rider to arrive from a lower orbit.
At the end of its mission, Space Rider will return to Earth with its payloads and land on a runway to be unloaded and refurbished for another flight.