THE SPACE ECONOMY
IS SCALING FAST.
SUSTAINABILITY IS
THE BOTTLENECK.

Laser ranging, photon-pressure nudging and ablation-based removal of orbital debris — from a HAPS platform at 30–35 km altitude. Operating above the atmosphere eliminates beam distortion; operating below orbit eliminates launch costs. Contactless, cost-efficient and far more scalable than both ground-based and space-based ADR.

Next-generation heat rejection for high-power orbital systems. We are developing an experimental Quasi-LDR prototype — using controlled jets and confined sprays — achieving up to 10× mass and volume reduction versus conventional solid-panel radiators.

Soft gripper systems with SMA actuators — lightweight, vacuum-rated, optimised for the thermal extremes of space. Adaptable to irregular debris geometries or unstructured terrain. Scalable because no target modification or cooperation is required.

A stratospheric balloon-based laser ablation system for active space debris removal. By operating from the stratosphere, Stratolaser eliminates atmospheric attenuation, drastically reducing laser power requirements versus ground-based systems — and at a fraction of the cost of spaceborne solutions.

Funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder under Horizon Europe. Grant Agreement No 101223245.

When two objects are predicted to collide, a precisely calibrated laser pulse can exert micro-Newtons of radiation pressure on one of them — enough to shift its orbit by metres. No contact. No propulsion system required on the target.

This is active space traffic management: Stratolaser acting as an orbital air traffic controller — resolving conjunctions before they become catastrophes.

Before any debris can be removed or nudged, it must be precisely located. Stratolaser fires short laser pulses at orbital objects and measures the return time with picosecond precision — generating sub-centimetre orbital determination for hundreds of objects per night.

The onboard AI then runs a multi-objective optimisation algorithm — ranking debris by conjunction risk, orbital lifetime, removal cost and collision consequence — to select the highest-priority target for intervention.

In space, there is no convection — every watt of waste heat must be radiated away. For high-power systems like Stratolaser or orbital data centres, thermal management is a fundamental design constraint. Conventional solid-panel radiators are approaching their limits; as orbital power demands scale into the megawatt range, thermal rejection becomes the binding constraint on the entire space economy.

FRV's answer is the Quasi-LDR: instead of free-floating droplets, the system operates with controlled jets, liquid films and confined sprays — preserving the thermal performance of classical Liquid Droplet Radiators while eliminating their critical failure modes.

FRV is developing soft gripper systems for on-orbit capture of uncooperative debris and satellites. Designed for the harsh environment of space: extreme thermal cycling (−150°C to +120°C), hard vacuum, and radiation exposure.

Actuated by Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) — lightweight, compact, and propulsion-free — these grippers conform to irregular debris geometries and apply controlled capture forces without damaging fragile satellite structures.

The same soft gripper technology applied to aerial robots enables dynamic perching on unstructured surfaces — rocks, cliffs, debris fields. Critical for planetary exploration where terrain is irregular and energy is scarce.

Unlike Ingenuity — NASA's Mars helicopter, which cannot land on rocky slopes — a perching-capable UAV can anchor on any surface, cutting hover energy to zero and enabling close-range scientific observation in previously unreachable environments.