But this capsule will need a propulsion unit to guide its path across space.

BBC: European tech could propel Nasa's Orion capsule

The ATV has two major divisions - a pressurised payload unit, and an avionics and propulsion unit.

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European engineers believe they could contribute to this project by providing the propulsion unit that pushes the rocket's capsule to these locations.

BBC: European tech could propel Nasa's Orion capsule

If the project is approved, engineers would hope to have the propulsion unit, or service module, ready to fly on the American rocket's first test flight.

BBC: European tech could propel Nasa's Orion capsule

It involves the docking a small robotic spacecraft onto the surface of an asteroid and then using the same propulsion unit that got it there to push the asteroid off its course.

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Just as with Apollo, any modern venture would need some kind of CSM element for the astronauts, together with a departure stage - a propulsion unit that could accelerate the astronauts' vehicle out of low-Earth orbit, putting it on a path to the Moon.

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Astrium's plan to tackle defunct satellites is to use an unmanned chase spacecraft to get in range, fire a barbed harpoon into the body of the rogue hardware and then use a smaller propulsion unit attached to a tether to tow it back towards the atmosphere where it will burn up safely on re-entry.

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The problem came to light when a Propulsion Drive Electronics (PDE) control unit picked up a difference in pressures between the oxidiser and the fuel going through one of the ATV's four "propulsion chains".

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The ELR will run on an electric propulsion system made of a T-shaped lithium ion battery, an electric drive unit and a four-cylinder engine generator.

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