Assembly apparatus

An assembly apparatus for assembling components of spacecraft in space, the assembly apparatus comprising:

• a core platform;
• and
• a mobile platform comprising an end effector configured to perform an assembly task;
• the mobile platform being connected to the core platform by a plurality of tethers;
• the core platform comprising a body and a coupling element connected to and extendable from the body such that the coupling element may be spaced from the body of the core platform;
• wherein the core platform further comprises a plurality of deployable trusses having an original undeployed state and a deployed state, wherein the plurality of deployable trusses are configured to space the coupling elements located on a distal end of each truss of the plurality of deployable trusses from the body of the core platform when deployed;
• wherein the coupling elements define vertices of a workspace extending therebetween in which the mobile platform is moveable,
• wherein each of the plurality of tethers connects the mobile platform to the body via one of the coupling elements;
• and
• a plurality of actuators, each of the plurality of actuators associated with one of the plurality of deployable trusses, each actuator is configured to vary the length of one of the plurality of tethers extending between the coupling element on the associated deployable truss and the mobile platform independently in order to control the position of the mobile platform relative to the body of the core platform anywhere within the workspace.