The EARS project: a new concept for a European reusable smallsat platform

Space exploitation can be made more affordable — and sustainable — by the development of reusable, low-cost spacecraft. In the EARS project, we aim at the development of an affordable and flexible platform that can be re-used and easily produced in large numbers, targeting the low-cost SmallSat market. The EARS spacecraft is conceived to be launched in Low Earth Orbit to support microgravity manufacturing and a variety of small experiments. The spacecraft is planned to de-orbit after several months in orbit, to perform a controlled re-entry and finally to be recovered in order to deliver its products and results back to the Earth. The spacecraft will be also conceived to be re-used with minimal refurbishment for several times, thus minimizing pollution and cost of access to space. In the EARS project, besides identifying the spacecraft overall architecture and concept of operation, we have focused on the development of the key technologies needed for its implementation, such as: efficient propulsion system, reliable Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) for the re-entry phase and heat shield to prevent major damage to the spacecraft during the re-entry phase. The study has been complemented by an analysis to identify the most promising application fields.