The University of Wellington’s Paihau-Robinson Research Institute and an astronautics company based in Texas have announced a partnership to launch a new superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to test a novel type of space propulsion.

By Samaya Dharmaraj

Paihau-Robinson selected the Houston-based hosted-payload provider to launch a superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to the International Space Station (ISS). According to a statement, the Institute is undertaking a five-year research programme into the application of its proprietary magnet technology to a type of electric space thruster, applied-field magneto plasma dynamic (AF-MPD) thrusters. There is currently only one example of a similar thruster being flown in space, with the mass and power requirements of magnetic components being a key technological barrier.  The Institute intends to leverage its advancements in high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet development to overcome these obstacles.

The Primary Investigator and Institute Director, Nick Long, stated that the research leverages Paihau-Robinson’s twenty-year track record in HTS magnet technology to drastically reduce the mass and power consumption of these thrusters, demonstrating a viable pathway to commercial applications. The researchers believe they could provide propulsion solutions for large spacecraft instead of electric thrusters.

The payload will launch to the ISS where it will be installed into the private player’s external platform by astronauts onboard the station. Engineers on the ground will then operate the magnet over several months-demonstrating the ability to generate a core magnetic field thousands of times stronger than that of the Earth, along with shielding to ensure the safety and stability of surrounding equipment.

E-Walker is a ‘seven degrees-of-freedom fully dexterous end-over-end walking robot’

By Richard Currie 

Although large in-space construction projects are the stuff of science fiction, they will have to become science fact as missions grow ever more ambitious. Researchers at the University of Lincoln have decided to get a head start.

Introducing the design for an “End-over-end Walking Robot” (or E-Walker) in the Frontiers in Robotics and AI journal, study authors Manu Harikrishnan Nair, Mini Chakravarthini Rai, and Mithun Poozhiyil describe “an innovative dexterous walking robotic system for in-orbit assembly missions.”

They say that simulated results “prove the dual E-Walker robotic system’s efficacy for accomplishing complex in-situ assembly operations through task-sharing,” using a Large Aperture Space Telescope (LAST) as an example.

“We need to introduce sustainable, futuristic technology to support the current and growing orbital ecosystem,” said lead author Nair, PhD candidate at the University of Lincoln.

“As the scale of space missions grows, there is a need for more extensive infrastructures in orbit. Assembly missions in space would hold one of the key responsibilities in meeting the increasing demand.”