Related papers: Debris Engine: A Potential Thruster for Space Debr…
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…
For exploration of space, in particular in attempts to find new extra-terrestrial resources, human society has encountered the problem of space pollution with human-made debris, which represents high risks for space missions. This prompted…
A new electrostatic ramjet space engine is proposed and analyzed. The upper atmosphere (85 -1000 km) is extremely dense in ions (millions per cubic cm). The interplanetary medium contains positive protons from the solar wind. A charged ball…
Consuming long-range interplanetary medium with fuel for driving plasma thrust is vital. Methods of capturing the space environment depending on its density and the ship velocity are indispensable issues to extract the space environment as…
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…
To deflect impact-trajectory of massive km^3 and spinning asteroid by a few terrestrial radius one need a large momentum exchange. The dragging of huge spinning bodies in space by external engine seems difficult or impossible. Our solution…
A chaser satellite equipped with robotic arms can capture space debris and manipulate it for use in more advanced missions such as refueling and deorbiting. To facilitate capturing, a caging-based strategy has been proposed to simplify the…
Large scale manned space flight within the solar system is still confronted with the solution of two problems: 1. A propulsion system to transport large payloads with short transit times between different planetary orbits. 2. A cost…
Orbital debris is a pressing problem which presents a danger to global space operations and a barrier to continued development of the space economy and space infrastructure. As research continues regarding orbital debris, there is a need…
Electrical space thrusters show important advantages for applications in outer space compared to chemical thrusters, as they allow a longer mission lifetime with lower weight and propellant consumption. Mature technologies on the market…
The escalating accumulation of orbital debris threatens the sustainability of space operations, necessitating active removal solutions that overcome the limitations of current fuel-dependent methods. To address this, this study introduces a…
This paper presents a novel approach for the preliminary design of Low-Thrust, many-revolution transfers. The main feature of the novel approach is a considerable reduction in the control parameters and a consequent gain in computational…
A novel concept for contactless active removal of large space debris is proposed exploiting the use of a high-speed targeted ion beam. The ion beam shepherd spacecraft (IBS) is equipped with an electric propulsion system generating a…
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…
Space debris is an ever-increasing problem in space travel. There are already many old, no longer functional spacecraft and debris orbiting the earth, which endanger both the safe operation of satellites and space travel. Small…
Today\'s world of space\'s primary concern is the uncontrolled growth of space debris and its probability of collision with spacecraft, particularly in the low earth orbit (LEO) regions. This paper is aimed to design an optimized…
Surfaces of planetary bodies can have strong electric fields, subjecting conductive grains to repulsive electrostatic forces. This has been proposed as mechanism to eject grains from the ground. To quantify this process, we study mm-sized…
Energy harvesting is the fundamental activity in almost all forms of space exploration known to humans. So far, in most cases, it is not feasible to bring, along with probe, spacecraft or rover suitable supply of fuel to cover all mission's…
This paper addresses the problem of planning successive Space Debris Collecting missions so that they can be achieved at minimal cost by a generic vehicle. The problem mixes combinatorial optimization to select and order the debris among a…
Excluding speculations about future breakthrough discoveries in physics, it is shown that with what is at present known, and also what is technically feasible, manned space flight to the limits of the solar system and beyond deep into the…