A servicing spacecraft equipped with a compliant flexible rod has emerged as an innovative solution for detumbling defunct satellites, but the contact-induced vibrations of the flexible rod and severe disturbance pose significant challenges to operational accuracy and safety. Despite the extensive research on vibration suppression and detumbling control for tumbling satellites, the combined application of nonlinear energy sink with active varying stiffness (NES-AVS) for flexible rod vibration suppression in servicing spacecraft has yet to be comprehensively studied, and addressing this research gap is crucial as existing methods struggle to achieve both vibration reduction and guaranteed control performance under contact-induced disturbance.

Swansea University, Novel Engineering Consultants Ltd (Novel), and Airbus Endeavr Wales—a unique initiative between the Welsh Government and Airbus Defence and Space—are collaborating on a groundbreaking research initiative to strengthen aerospace systems against cyberattacks.

In an era of growing demand for real-time precision navigation, researchers have unveiled a powerful leap forward in satellite-based positioning.