Active Debris Removal Mission - ELSA-D

ELSA-D is a mission by Astroscale to demonstrate important aspects of end-of-life (EOL) services and Active Debris Removal (ADR). The mission is composed of two satellites, a Servicer and a Client. Their Servicer satellite carries a variety of sensors for navigation and instruments including a capture mechanism to actively capture a Client satellite, also with a variety of instruments and acting here in the role of a space debris. Once Servicer and Client satellites are detached from each other for the first time, the first will perform a series of manoeuvres to autonomously and safely capture the Client satellite. This operation will repeat with an increase in the complexity up to a level to replicate what an ADR mission might face in a near future, to capture a tumbling target.

Based on publicly available information such as news, videos and pictures, the model replicates the main characteristics both Servicer and Client systems, being 130 mm tall and 320 mm wide (with solar panels open), in a roughly 1/10 scale. A total of 58 parts separates the main bus structure, instruments, solar panels and mechanical parts. The parts are designed to be printed using the respective colours for each part as indicated in the instructions. The design is compatible with a standard 200 X 200 mm printing bed and a standard nozzle of 0.4 mm is pretty capable of capturing the details of the model (which can also be upscale if desired). For smaller scales it is recommended to use smaller nozzles (0.3 mm and 0.2 mm ). The tolerances are well within 0.2 to 0.5 mm so just minor sanding and filling will be required if you have a tuned printer.

In addition to reusable rockets, there is a great effort going on in orbit to make space more sustainable and to enhance our capability of doing things in orbit. This model tries to bring some of those efforts to light.

If you have any feedback, questions, suggestions or just want to share the results of your print feel free to contact me.

Cheers!

Additional Materials Required

At least 4 strong magnets (neodymium magnets) of 10 mm diameter and 5 mm height

Layer heights and support are suggested in the instruction for each file. Infill ranging from 15% to 20% suits most of the parts.