The ISM’s Zero-G Lab is designed to allow students and researchers to test the movement of in-orbit robotics, satellites and other spacecraft in a micro-gravity environment – similar in concept to an air hockey platform.

On Earth, we take gravity for granted, but moving in its absence presents a number of challenges for in-orbit operations. For instance, a small push between two orbiting systems could make one or both to tumble and get out of control. Seeing how spacecraft and orbital robotics can be controlled or perform with decoupled systems in this environment provides students the unique chance of understanding and forecasting their behaviour in space.