science

Space Applications Services

Space Applications Services is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Space Applications Services rather than just read about it. In short: Space Applications Services is an independent Belgian company founded in 1987, with a subsidiary, Aerospace Applications North America, in Houston, USA. Its aim is to research and develop innovative systems, solutions and products and provide services to the aerospace and security markets and related industries.

Key takeaways

Space Applications Services belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Space Applications Services to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Space Applications Services from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Space Applications Services is an independent Belgian company founded in 1987, with a subsidiary, Aerospace Applications North America, in Houston, USA. Its aim is to research and develop innovative systems, solutions and products and provide services to the aerospace and security markets and related industries. Its activities cover crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, launch/re-entry vehicles, control centres, robotics and a wide range of information systems. The company is EN 9100 certified (for Space Flight Systems & Ground Support Equipment) and serves clients worldwide. It is owned and managed by its founders, Richard Aked and Leif Steinicke.

History Space Applications Services was founded in 1987. The initial business line was Human Spaceflight focused on the definition of the European Manned Space Infrastructure. In 1995 a Robotics Team was reestablished, closely followed in 1999 by the Future Projects and Exploration Team and in 2000 by the Flight systems, Avionics and Embedded Systems Teams. The uncrewed spacecraft business line was established in 2001 with focus on Earth Observation Systems Ground Segments. In 2004 Aerospace Applications North America was established in Houston focusing on human machine interaction, systems and technology. Expanding into uncrewed space systems the Earth Observation Systems Team was established in 2001. In 2004, Space Applications Services created a subsidiary company in Houston, Texas, the United States of America, called “Aerospace Applications North America, Inc.” (AANA), specialized in Human Machine Interface. In 2005 the company established a Services business line providing specialist technical services to institutional and non-institutional customers. In 2009 a Knowledge Management team was added(since renamed Artificial Intelligence) and a research office was established in the Netherlands. The company is currently organized in a Systems Department comprising a Flight Systems Division, a Ground Systems and Software Division and a Technology, Applications and Robotics division, a Services Department and a Business Innovation Unit. Since 2019, the company is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

Main products and services The company focuses on robotics and mechanisms, ground segment, exploration systems, avionics, and services.

ICE Cubes (International Commercial Experiment Cubes)

The International Commercial Experiment Cubes or ICE Cubes Service is a commercial service that offers access to space for research, technology or education. It allows public or private entities to run their experiments on the interior of the International Space Station for access to microgravity. Examples of potential fields of research include pharmaceutical development, microbiology, stem cells, radiation, materials science, 3D printing, fluid sciences and art. The service also allows to demonstrate and validate technologies in microgravity. ICE Cubes service stems from a partnership between Space Applications Services and the European Space Agency (ESA). In March 2019, ICE Cubes became an implementation partner at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), a non-profit organization that manages the ISS United States National Laboratory.

Hotdock HOTDOCK is a Standard Interface device for robotic manipulation providing redundant mechanical, power, data and thermal coupling capabilities between payloads and spacecraft or between spacecraft modules. It is considered an essential building block to support the emerging LEO/GEO robotic servicing market (spacecraft maintenance and reconfiguration, large structures assembly in space). It is also targeted to support the robotic needs of future exploration missions.

Lunar exploration LUVMI, a lightweight (about 45 kg), low-cost rover with four wheels and adjustable suspension system that is being developed to study the characteristics of the moon's water ice and the volatiles in the lunar crust and atmosphere by drilling into the ground and performing the measurements in-situ. The company is part of a European aerospace consortium that was awarded a one-year contract by ESA to study a lunar lander mission proposal that would launch by 2025. The purpose of the mission would be to demonstrate the ability to mine lunar regolith and extract resources from it, also called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The other partners are ArianeGroup and PTScientists. Space Applications Services will provide ground segment and communications services.

Ground segment Space Applications Services is the company behind Yamcs - a framework for command and control over spacecraft, satellites, payloads, ground stations and ground equipment.

References

External links Company website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Space Applications Services

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Space Applications Services claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Space Applications Services before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Space Applications Services ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Space Applications Services

In research: Space Applications Services appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Space Applications Services in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Space Applications Services is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace companies of Europe, Belgian companies established in 1987, Exploration of the Moon, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Space Applications Services outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Space Applications Services in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Space Applications Services means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Space Applications Services out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Space Applications Services in simple terms?

Why does Space Applications Services matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Space Applications Services?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Space Applications Services.