AROBS Polska and Romania's AROBS Engineering have been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Generic Low Earth Orbit Close Proximity Operations Control Unit development project, known as CRIMSON. Both companies are part of the AROBS Group, the largest technology company listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. 

The project, approved in September 2024, is funded by ESA as part of its Core Activities for Clean Space under the COSMIC initiative within the Agency’s Space Safety Program, Period 2. It addresses a specific need that has been identified for future Active Debris Removal (ADR) and In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) missions for a qualified control unit capable of interfacing with several sensors and imagers and with sufficient processing power and memory capacity to perform a variety of critical high-data rate functions, including image processing, relative navigation, and robotics control, as well as supporting functions such as image compression.

This activity aims to develop a generic, flexible control unit for close proximity operations in Low Earth Orbit. The controller is foreseen as the core unit providing the necessary monitoring and control functions during the critical close proximity operations phase, including rendezvous and capture. 

This generic unit will support a variety of use cases and architectures without the need for nonrecurrent engineering and/or delta qualification, AROBS explained.

Voicu Oprean, CEO of AROBS Group, stated: “I am proud that our Romanian and Polish Aerospace Engineering teams have been granted the opportunity to participate in the CRIMSON project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). This project aligns perfectly with our vision at AROBS Group - pioneering advancements that contribute to a cleaner and safer space environment. I look forward to seeing our teams innovate and excel in this endeavor.”

AROBS Polska and AROBS Engineering took up the challenge of developing a generic solution that will fit into future Low Earth Orbit missions, providing a modular, redundant, scalable Control Unit. Before closing the low-level requirements for software, hardware, and programmable logic, the partners will meet several European integrators to present the preliminary architecture of the device and gather feedback.

“The CRIMSON project will allow us to support missions aiming at active removal of space debris and satellite in-orbit servicing. Thanks to great cooperation within AROBS Group, we can build self-standing products and assure interoperability along different technologies,” stated Michał Szwajewski, CEO of AROBS Polska.

AROBS Group, through the AROBS Engineering team in Romania, has 12+ years of experience building on-board applications and platform software for various space payloads and systems. 

In this project, the team will leverage their expertise in image processing and image-based navigation by implementing and benchmarking a demo set of image processing algorithms that will acquire and process real-time images from emulated WAC (Wide Angle Camera)/NAC (Narrow Angle Camera) sources. The algorithms will compose mathematical results and will provide input to a demo-level GNC (guidance, navigation, and control) software module.

AROBS Transilvania Software provides software services and solutions in various industries. It is present in 11 locations in Romania and nine abroad, with over 1,300 AROBS specialists building solutions for the future in embedded - Automotive, Aerospace, Maritime, and Medical - as well as Travel Technology, IoT, Clinical Trials, Fintech, Enterprise Solutions, Cybersecurity, and Intelligent Automation.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: AROBS/ESA)