Lunasa Space has started a 5-months preliminary design project in collaboration with Cranfield University. The project will be conducted by 14 space engineering researchers and led by Dr Jenny Kingston. The project aims to identify critical development challenges involved with the innovation and propose suitable solutions for Lúnasa’s in-space satellite servicing platform.

VIA is a patent-pending dual-staged vehicle, designed to perform on-orbit autonomous rendezvous proximity operations and docking with the payload stage. VIA is the first-generation vehicle that assembles on-orbit, significantly reducing the time and cost to access space. Its dual-stage design allows VIA to become reusable and carry several mission objectives over its single lifetime.

About Cranfield University:
Cranfield University is a British postgraduate public research university specialising in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics in 1946, where later in 1969, it was renamed to Cranfield Institute of Technology by royal charter, and by 1993, it adopted its current name. Cranfield’s mission is to create leaders in technology and management, unlocking the potential of people and organisations by partnering with businesses and governments to deliver transformational research, postgraduate education and professional development.