Demonstration designs for the remediation of space debris from the International Space Station

TLDR: In this paper, the authors present designs for a staged implementation of an orbiting debris remediation system comprised of a super-wide field-of-view telescope (EUSO) and a novel high efficiency fiber-based laser system (CAN).

About: This article is published in Acta Astronautica.The article was published on 2015-07-01 and is currently open access. It has received 67 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Space debris & International Space Station.

Figures

Figure 10. (a) Distribution of debris in azimuth-velocity diagram at the ISS orbit. The flux for forward direction (azimuth 0 ) is higher because of the larger relative

Figure 4: Concept of the propulsion by laser ablation. Ablated material is ejected as ablation plasma by the velocity of va .

Figure 7: The CAN concept for the debris removal module. Powered by stored solar energy from the parent satellite, the amplified beam from the combined array of fibers is expanded via the telescope to aperture D which enables focusing to large distances, L~100km, while the phase array controls wavefront and hence the focal distance of the beam.

Figure 1. Results of simulations for 1-10cm size debris, performed with the MASTER 2009 code [2]: (a) The impact velocity and flux for 1-10cm debris components calculated for the ISS orbit for 2008, here fragments (red-line) include debris from satellite explosions or collisions (b) Recent evolution of 1-10cm debris in low-earth-orbit altitudes.

Figure 8.The concept of Mini-EUSO: Super wide field camera with two Fresnel lens and PMT array as the focal surface detector.[Is there a 2nd image of the real device?]

Figure 5. The concept of the removal of debris by laser ablation. Reducing the speed of debris by ∆ v via laser-ablation impulses

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in this paper?

The authors present here a design for an orbiting debris remediation system comprised of a super-wide field-of-view telescope and a novel laser system operating from the International Space Station ( ISS ). 

Q2. What are the advantages of using a laser to detect debris?

Attributes of stability and good beam quality would enable precise taking and impulse delivery from distances ¿100kmLaser impulse control can be also be used to modify the rotation rate of large debris objects such as derelict satellites or spent rockets. 

Q3. How much energy is needed to stop the rotation of a satellite?

The moment of impact necessary to stop the rotation is in the order of 102 N s m for the case of a typical satellite with the mass of 1000 kg the size of 1 m, and angular velocity of 0.1 Hz. 

Q4. What is the main threat to the ISS?

Remediation of cm-size debris which poses the main threat would require directed impulse control to promote atmospheric re-entry.. 

Q5. How can a laser system be used to detect debris in orbit?

Also the precise orbital injection of a satellite can be done remotely with 10kW-class space laser system without additional propellant in the satellite. 

Q6. What is the reason for the increase in the number of debris at higher orbits?

Increasing numbers of debris at higher orbits are elevating the risk of future collisions to both functional and derelict satellites. 

Q7. What is the main reason for the ISS to be a space telescope?

The authors believe that the ISS can provide such an environment enabling scaling and rigorous testing of individual subsystems such as power, detection and laser impulse delivery. 

Q8. What is the main reason for the ISS to be a large space telescope?

Measured population data for such small debris would greatly compliment the computation models used to predict risks to orbital payloads. 

Q9. how many orbital debris fragments are there?

Beginning with demonstration missions on the International Space Station incorporating the JEM-EUSO module as a detector, the authors have shown that there are sufficient debris numbers to validate proof-of-principle operation of both tracking and remediation capability with the efficient fiber-based CAN laser system.