Active Space Debris Removal System

Since the start of the space era, more than 5000 launches have been carried out, each carrying satellites for many disparate uses, such as Earth observation or communication. Thus, the space environment has become congested and the problem of space debris is now generating some concerns in the space...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inINCAS bulletin Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 97 - 116
Main Authors Gabriele, GUERRA, Alexandru Camil, MURESAN, Karl Gustav, NORDQVIST, Antoine, BRISSAUD, Naser, NACIRI, Ling, LUO
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bucharest INCAS - National Institute for Aerospace Research "Elie Carafoli" 2017
National Institute for Aerospace Research “Elie Carafoli” - INCAS
Subjects
Aerospace environments
Augmentation
Augmentation systems
Burn up
Communication satellites
Communities
Docking
Drag
Electric propulsion
Feasibility studies
Foam
Moon
Orbits
Propulsion
Removal
Rockets
Satellite
Satellites
Space Debris
Space debris mitigation
Spacecraft
Sustainability
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Summary:Since the start of the space era, more than 5000 launches have been carried out, each carrying satellites for many disparate uses, such as Earth observation or communication. Thus, the space environment has become congested and the problem of space debris is now generating some concerns in the space community due to our long-lived belief that "space is big". In the last few years, solutions to this problem have been proposed, one of those is Active Space Debris Removal: this method will reduce the increasing debris growth and permit future sustainable space activities. The main idea of the method proposed below is a drag augmentation system: use a system capable of putting an expanded foam on a debris which will increase the area-to-mass ratio to increase the natural atmospheric drag and solar pressure. The drag augmentation system proposed here requires a docking system; the debris will be pushed to its release height and then, after un-docking, an uncontrolled re-entry takes place ending with a burn up of the object and the foam in the atmosphere within a given time frame. The method requires an efficient way to change the orbit between two debris. The present paper analyses such a system in combination with an Electric Propulsion system, and emphasizes the choice of using two satellites to remove five effective rockets bodies debris within a year.
ISSN:2066-8201
2247-4528
2247-4528
DOI:10.13111/2066-8201.2017.9.2.8