Related papers: Plug-and-Play Drag Sail Module for LEO Satellites:…
The exponential rise in small-satellites and CubeSats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) poses important challenges for future space traffic management. At altitudes of 600 km and lower, aerodynamic drag accelerates de-orbiting of satellites.…
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…
Low Earth orbits (LEO) are known as a region of high space activity and, consequently, space debris highest density. Launcher upper stages and defunct satellites are the largest space debris objects, whose collisions can result in still…
A charged tether or wire experiences Coulomb drag when inserted into flowing plasma. In the solar wind the Coulomb drag can be utilised as efficient propellantless interplanetary propulsion as the electric solar wind sail (electric sail,…
Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are crucial for communications, navigation, and Earth observation. However, their operational lifetimes are strongly influenced by orbital decay due to atmospheric drag. This work presents a simplified…
Capella Space, which designs, builds, and operates a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth-imaging small satellites, faced new challenges with the onset of Solar Cycle 25. By mid-2022, it had become clear that solar activity…
As part of the dynamical analysis carried out within the Horizon 2020 ReDSHIFT project, this work analyzes the possible strategies to guide low altitude satellites towards an atmospheric reentry through an impulsive maneuver. We consider a…
Small-satellites and CubeSats offer a low-cost pathway to access Low Earth Orbit at altitudes of 450 km and lower thanks to miniaturization and advancement in reliability of commercial electronics. However, at these low altitudes,…
The rapid advancement and miniaturization of spacecraft electronics, sensors, actuators, and power systems have resulted in growing proliferation of small-spacecraft. Coupled with this is the growing number of rocket launches, with…
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…
In Coulomb drag propulsion, a long high voltage tether or system of tethers gathers momentum from a natural plasma stream such as solar wind or ionospheric plasma ram flow. A positively polarised tether in the solar wind can be used for…
An increase in satellite application has skyrocketed the number of satellites, especially in the low earth orbit (LEO). The major concern today is that these satellites become debris after the end of life, negatively affecting the space…
A methodology is presented for the differential drag control of a large fleet of propulsion-less satellites deployed in the same orbit. The controller places satellites into a constellation with specified angular offsets and zero-relative…
Future launches are projected to significantly increase both the number of active satellites and aggregate collision risk in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In this paper, a dynamical systems theory approach is used to analyze the effect of launch…
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…
In this work, we achieve propellantless control of both cross-track and along-track separation of a satellite formation by manipulating atmospheric drag. Increasing the differential drag of one satellite with respect to another directly…
There is growing demand for satellite swarms and constellations for global positioning, remote sensing and relay communication in higher LEO orbits. This will result in many obsolete, damaged and abandoned satellites that will remain…
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…
In recent years (2000-2021), human-space activities have been increasing faster than ever. More than 36000 Earth' orbiting objects, all larger than 10 cm, in orbit around the Earth, are currently tracked by the European Space Agency (ESA).…
The increase in the application of the satellite has skyrocketed the number of satellites, especially in the low earth orbit. The major concern today is after the end of life, these satellites become debris which negatively affects the…