Unmanned Systems Technology 028 | ecoSUB Robotics AUVs I ECUs focus I Space vehicles insight I AMZ Driverless gotthard I InterDrone 2019 report I ATI WAM 167-BB I Video systems focus I Aerdron HL4 Herculift

47 The HTV is arguably the largest such vessel in existence so far, among others such as SpaceX’s Dragon and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus. It is about 9.8 m long and 4.4 m in diameter, with an empty weight of 10.5 t and a payload capacity of 6 t. It will be followed up by a Kounotori 9, which will carry similar supplies and the next ORU batteries. One of its payload bays is outside the hull, which after docking is accessed by a robotic arm that transfers supplies into the Kibo module. The HTV uses the MDA Space Missions Canadarm2 to do this, with the robotic arm also serving as a grappler to assist during docking. The HTV’s four main thrusters are powered by monomethylhydrazine fuel and mixed oxides of nitrogen as oxidiser to produce 500 N each for orbital manoeuvring. The fuel and oxidiser are also used by the HTV’s 28 attitude control thrusters, each of which produces 110 N, with roughly 2.4 t of propellant carried onboard across four tanks. Earlier in September, an unmanned Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft returned from the ISS, having been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and flown autonomously with a payload of about 658 kg of cargo for the onboard crew. The craft also housed a humanoid FEDOR (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research) robot, developed by the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects in the Defense Industry, in collaboration with non-profit organisation Android Technologies. It was commissioned by Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. The FEDORs have been created as all- purpose stand-ins for humans operating in high-risk mission vehicles, conducting rescue work and other hazardous tasks requiring leverage and hands. As the robot can work amid radiation, chemical contamination and in the absence of oxygen, it spent the MS-14’s launch and return missions monitoring and reporting on conditions at the commander’s seat. The FEDOR is about 180 cm tall when standing upright, weighs 160 kg and operates on a 20 hp power output. The 660 kg MS-14 was also used to test a Soyuz-2.1a booster rocket with a modification to its launch-abort system. The booster will be used from next year to transport crews to the ISS. Orbital research and exploration The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has launched 24 experimental unmanned orbital craft, as part of the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program mission. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was used for the launch. It was that craft’s first ever night flight and third launch overall, as well as its first flight using reused boosters. Included in the rocket’s payload of experimental spacecraft was the Unmanned space vehicles | Insight Unmanned Systems Technology | October/November 2019 The latest Soyuz resupply mission to the ISS was used to trial a humanoid FEDOR robot in the unmanned capsule and a modified launch-abort system on the Soyuz-2.1a booster rocket (Courtesy of NASA)