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Advanced Concepts Team

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The Advanced Concepts Team is a group of scientists, researchers and young graduates that operate within the European Space Agency. Located at the European Space Research and Technology Center, in the Netherlands, the team was instituted in 2003 with the objective of fostering advanced research on space systems, innovative concepts and working methods.

1 Introduction
2 Research
- 2.1 Some highlights
3 University Network: Ariadna
4 External links

Introduction

The Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) is a research group of the European Space Agency, it explores technologies for applications to future space missions by fostering interaction between European research groups and organizations and by providing specific solutions to cutting edge research problems. Essentially, the ACT is a channel for the study of future technologies and ideas that are of strategical importance in the long term planning of ESA. Placed at corporate level, it serves the function of a think tank providing decision makers the support of a highly multidisciplinary research group. Science and engineering Research Fellows and Young Graduate Trainee form the bulk of this Team. They carry out research work on advanced topics and emerging technologies . Subjects include (as of Jan, 2007):

Energy Systems
Artificial Intelligence
Nanotechnologies
Trajectory and system design
Advanced propulsion
Theoretical physics
Biomimetics
Mathematics and informatics

and other topics in which both space systems engineering competence and specific theoretical knowledge is required.

Research

One of the founding philosophies of the team is the open source orientation of all their projects. The research papers and reports produced are made available, whenever possible, in their publication web site. Downloads are also available of the software produced by the internal researchers of the team.

Some highlights

(2003) The ACT starts a number of mission designs for asteroid exploration. The final outcome is a phase A study on an asteroid deflection mission named Don Quijotte, see http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/NEO/SEMZRZNVGJE_0.html for details
(2003) The ACT starts the first phase of the European Solar Power Satellite assessment. Trade offs between placing solar plants in orbit and in the ground are performed.
(2004) The ACT introduces for the first time in ESA a systematic research of inspiration from biological solutions to approach space problems. For a good introduction on biomimetic principles in space mission design see http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/bio/index.htm.
(2004) The ACT starts the development of a distributed computing environment general for ESA computations. See http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/inf/pp/act-dc.htm
(2004) The ACT starts the development of a distributed computing environment general for ESA computations. See http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/inf/pp/act-dc.htm
(2005) The ACT demonstrate that asteroid deflection is technologically possible in some cases and shows how to deflect the asteroid Apophis 99942 with a kinetic impactor mission. For more information go to http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/mad/op/AsteroidsAndNEOs/maywedeflect.htm
(2005) The ACT finds numerical evidence that formation flying missions can benefit from two previously unknown special inclinations (49 degrees and 131) where the control effort is minimal due to a perfect match between the in-plane and the off-plane frequencies, see http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/mad/pp/magicinclinations.htm
(2005) The ACT initiates and organizes an international competition on global optimisation applied to interplanetary trajectory design. The competition is a kind of America's cup with the winner organizing the next edition. See http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/mad/op/GTOC/index.htm
(2006) The ACT starts to test Web 2.0 technologies as working methods in the European Space Agency. Wikis, subversions and other concurrent working environment are tried and developed.
(2006) The ACT coordinates a European research effort to determine for the first time the effects of microgravity on the emerging techniques for interfacing, non ivasively, the human brain with a machine.
(2007) US researchers confirm the ACT numerical findings on the magic inclinations see http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/mad/pp/magicinclinations.htm

University Network: Ariadna

[Ariadna] is an initiative by the European Space Agency (ESA) to establish a link with the European academic community in advanced space technology research, having as main objective to enhance cooperation and facilitate research partnerships with universities and research departments linked to universities. ACT University Network (February 2007) With its joint research mechanism Ariadna stimulates research on enabling space research areas and on the development of new design methods. Subjects include theoretical physics, power systems, propulsion, trajectory design and optimization, informatics and applied mathematics, biomimetics, and other subjects in which both space systems engineering competence and specific theoretical knowledge are required. About every 6 months ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team releases a Calls for Proposals, which consists of announcements of specific assessment studies, in which the topic of research and tasks to be performed have been previously defined by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team and relate to the team’s basic research objectves. Every university interested can become part of the ACT University Network by filling the contact form. It will receive any updates and information on current and planned ESA studies in its area of research and the Ariadna newsletter electronically.