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Front-end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration

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FREND (for Front-end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration) is a DARPA project "aiming to create a fully autonomous docking capability for satellites that weren't built to be serviced" currently under testing at U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Spacecraft Engineering Department.[1]

The FREND mission concept uses robotic arms to position a grappling tool at a customer spacecraft structural hardpoint, and docks the two spacecraft together by first rigidizing this tool, then rigidizing the positioning robotics.[2]

References