Review and comparison of active space debris capturing and removal methods

340 C R E D IT : (T O P ) N A S A S ince the launch of Sputnik I, space activities have created an orbital debris environment that poses increasing impact risks to existing space systems, including human space flight and robotic missions (1, 2). Currently, more than 9000 Earth-orbiting man-made objects (including many breakup fragments), with a combined mass exceeding 5 million kg, are tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and maintained in the U.S. satellite catalog (3–5). Three accidental collisions between catalogued objects during the period from late 1991 to early 2005 have already been documented (6), although, fortunately, none resulted in the creation of large, trackable debris clouds. The most recent (January 2005) was between a 31-year-old U.S. rocket body and a fragment from the third stage of a Chinese CZ-4 launch vehicle that had exploded in March 2000. Several studies conducted during 1991–2001 demonstrated, with assumed future launch rates, the potential increase in the Earth satellite population, resulting from random, accidental collisions among resident space objects (7–13). In some low Earth orbit (LEO) altitude regimes, where the number density of objects is above a critical spatial density, the production rate of new debris due to collisions exceeds the loss of objects due to orbital decay. LEGEND (LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris model), is a highfidelity three-dimensional physical model developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that is capable of simulating the historical environment, as well as the evolution of future debris populations (14, 15). The LEGEND future projection adopts a Monte Carlo approach to simulate future onorbit explosions and collisions (16). A total of 50 (17), 200-year future projection Monte Carlo simulations were executed and evaluated, under the assumptions that no rocket bodies and spacecraft were launched after December 2004 and that no future disposal maneuvers were allowed for existing spacecraft (few of which currently have such a capability) (18). The simulated 10-cm and larger debris populations in LEO (defined as the region between altitudes of 200 and 2000 km) between 1957 and the end of a 200-year future projection period

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/311/5759/340.full.pdf

Risks in Space from Orbiting Debris

An active debris removal parametric study for LEO environment remediation

Controlling the growth of future LEO debris populations with active debris removal

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20070013702/downloads/20070013702.pdf

A sensitivity study of the effectiveness of active debris removal in LEO

Fragment shape is an important factor for conducting reliable orbital debris damage assessments for critical space assets, such as the International Space Station. To date, seven microsatellite impact tests have been completed as part of an ongoing collaboration between Kyushu University and the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. The target satellites ranged in size from 15 cm 15 cm 15 cm to 20 cm 20 cm 20 cm. Each target satellite was equipped with fully functional electronics, including circuits, battery, and transmitter. Solar panels and multi-layer insulation (MLI) were added to the target satellites of the last two tests. The impact tests were carried out with projectiles of different sizes and impact speeds. All fragments down to about 2 mm in size were collected and analyzed based on their three orthogonal dimensions, x, y, and z, where x is the longest dimension, y is the longest dimension in the plane perpendicular to x, and z is the longest dimension perpendicular to both x and y. Each fragment was also photographed and classified by shape and material composition. This data set serves as the basis of our effort to develop a fragment shape distribution. Two distinct groups can be observed in the x/y versus y/z distribution of the fragments. Objects in the first group typically have large x/y values. Many of them are needle-like objects originating from the fragmentation of carbon fiber reinforced plastic materials used to construct the satellites. Objects in the second group tend to have small x/y values, and many of them are box-like or plate-like objects, depending on their y/z values. Each group forms the corresponding peak in the x/y distribution. However, only one peak can be observed in the y/z distribution. These distributions and how they vary with size, material type, and impact parameters will be described in detail within the paper.

https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc5/paper/81/SDC5-paper81.pdf

Shape Distribution of Fragments from Microsatellite Impact Tests

This paper summarizes results from two postmission disposal parametric analyses based on the high fidelity NASA orbital debris evolutionary model LEGEND. The first analysis includes a nonmitigation reference scenario and four test scenarios, where the mission lifetimes of spacecraft are set to 5, 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively, before they are moved to the 25-year decay orbits. The comparison among the five scenarios quantifies how a prolonged spacecraft mission lifetime decreases the effectiveness of the 25-year decay rule in the low Earth orbit region. The second analysis includes three 25-year decay postmission disposal scenarios where the mission lifetimes of spacecraft are set to 5 years but with disposal success rates set to 50%, 70%, and 90%, respectively. It illustrates how the postmission disposal success rate impacts the long-term debris environment. The conclusion of this paper is that a prolonged spacecraft mission lifetime and a lower postmission disposal success rate can have noticeable negative impact on the debris environment in the long run.

/pdf/a-leo-satellite-postmission-disposal-study-using-legend-4upow7q7tw.pdf

Jer-Chyi Liou

Papers

Shape Distribution of Fragments from Microsatellite Impact Tests

A LEO Satellite Postmission Disposal Study using LEGEND

Comparison between New Satellite Impact Test Results and the NASA Standard Breakup Model

A proposed in situ debris measurement in GEO