DC1 – Digital Twin for In-Space Assembly and Manufacturing

1. MSCA Mobility rule

To be eligible for this PhD position, applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France (country of the recruiting beneficiary) for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding the recruitment date — unless this period was part of compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.

2. Description of the Work Project

Large-aperture antennas are key technologies for communications, radar, sensing, and space exploration, offering higher resolution and sensitivity. Their development, especially for high-frequency Kaand X-band missions, faces challenges due to required apertures over 30 m. On-orbit manufacturing enables building large, lightweight antennas in space, but surface accuracy and deployment reliability remain issues. An alternative is using swarms of small satellites phased together to form a coherent antenna array. JPL research has shown this method is promising for high data-rate communications, relying on precise intra-swarm metrology. Swarm antennas are also reconfigurable, allowing one formation to serve multiple missions through coordinated maneuvers. However, maintaining formation and synchronization is complex due to coupled attitude and position dynamics. Control systems must ensure accurate timing, phase, and orientation among satellites. Tethered configurations add further complexity from structural flexibility in tethers and appendages. Precise dynamic modeling is needed to handle orbital perturbations affecting performance. Tethered systems can also generate controllable forces via electrodynamic tether currents. This concept, though studied for de-orbiting, remains unexplored for swarm control and merits further research.