Related papers: Removing Orbital Debris with Lasers
Space debris have been becoming exceedingly dangerous over the years as the number of objects in orbit continues to rise. Active debris removal (ADR) missions have garnered significant attention as an effective way to mitigate this…
Over the several decades, the space debris at LEO has grown rapidly which had caused a serious threat to the operating satellite in an orbit. To avoid the risk of collision and protect the LEO environment, the space robotics ADR concept has…
In order to avoid collisions with space debris, the near Earth orbit must be continuously scanned by either ground- or spaced-based facilities. For the low Earth orbit, radar telescopes are the workhorse for this task, especially due to…
The nearby space surrounding the Earth is densely populated by artificial satellites and instruments, whose orbits are distributed within the Low-Earth-Orbit region (LEO), ranging between 90 and 2 000 $km$ of altitude. As a consequence of…
The growing number of space debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) jeopardizes long-term orbital sustainability, requiring efficient risk assessment for active debris removal (ADR) missions. This study presents the development and validation of…
Orbital debris is a nonlinear control problem in a stratified orbital environment, not a static inventory. This paper develops a reduced-order shell-and-size framework that connects collision-rate scaling, fragment-production gain, natural…
This paper presents the design of a multi-spacecraft system for the deflection of asteroids. Each spacecraft is equipped with a fibre laser and a solar concentrator. The laser induces the sublimation of a portion of the surface of the…
Cometary impacts pose a long-term hazard to life on Earth. Impact mitigation techniques have been studied extensively, but they tend to focus on asteroid diversion. Typical asteroid interdiction schemes involve spacecraft physically…
We examine the simple model put forth in a recent note by Loeb regarding the brightness of space debris in the size range of 1-10 cm and their impact on the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) transient object searches.…
With the development of aerospace technology, the increasing population of space debris has posed a great threat to the safety of spacecraft. However, the low intensity of reflected light and high angular velocity of space debris impede the…
Among the approaches to the proposed mitigation and remediation of the space debris problem is the de-orbiting of objects in low Earth orbit through irradiation by ground-based high-intensity pulsed lasers. Laser ablation of a thin surface…
Since the late 1950s, when the first artificial satellite was launched, the number of Resident Space Objects has steadily increased. It is estimated that around one million objects larger than one cm are currently orbiting the Earth, with…
A concept for forced reentry of small orbital debris with characteristic dimension ~ 10 cm from the highly populated sun synchronous orbit by injecting micron scale dust grains to artificially enhance drag is discussed. The drag enhancement…
The proliferation of space debris in LEO has become a major concern for the space industry. With the growing interest in space exploration, the prediction of potential collisions between objects in orbit has become a crucial issue. It is…
Radar is a critical tool for maintaining knowledge of the many ob-jects in low Earth orbit and thus for maintaining confidence that societies around the world are secure against a variety of space-based threats. It is therefore important to…
Currently, space debris represents a threat for satellites and space-based operations, both in-orbit and during the launching process. The yearly increase in space debris represents a serious concern to major space agencies leading to the…
Laser ablation of a Near-Earth Object (NEO) on a collision course with Earth produces a cloud of ejecta which exerts a thrust on the NEO, deflecting it from its original trajectory. Ablation may be performed from afar by illuminating an…
The computation of the Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance (MOID) is an old, but increasingly relevant problem. Fast and precise methods for MOID computation are needed to select potentially hazardous asteroids from a large catalogue. The…
Space debris, also known as "space junk," presents a significant challenge for all space exploration activities, including those involving human-onboard spacecraft such as SpaceX's Crew Dragon and the International Space Station. The amount…
Space debris larger than 1 cm can damage space instruments and impact Earth. The low-Earth orbits (at heights smaller than 2000 km) and orbits near the geostationary- Earth orbit (at 35786 km height) are especially endangered, because most…