Design and guidance of a multi-active debris removal mission

Space debris have become exceedingly dangerous over the years as the number of objects in orbit continues to increase.Active debris removal(ADR)missions have gained significant interest as effective means of mitigating the risk of collision between objects in space.This study focuses on developing a multi-ADR mission that utilizes controlled reentry and deorbiting.The mission comprises two spacecraft:a Servicer that brings debris to a low altitude and a Shepherd that rendezvous with the debris to later perform a controlled reentry.A preliminary mission design tool(PMDT)was developed to obtain time and fuel optimal trajectories for the proposed mission while considering the effect of J2,drag,eclipses,and duty cycle.The PMDT can perform such trajectory optimizations for multi-debris missions with computational time under a minute.Three guidance schemes are also studied,taking the PMDT solution as a reference to validate the design methodology and provide guidance solutions to this complex mission profile.

Survey on research and development of on-orbit active debris removal methods

Space debris is growing dramatically with the rapid pace of human exploration of space,which seriously threatens the safety of artificial spacecraft in orbit.Therefore,the active debris removal(ADR)is important.This review aims to review the ADR methods and to advance related research in the future.The current research and development status are clearly demonstrated by mapping knowledge domain and charts.In this paper,the latest research results are classified and summarized in detail from two aspects of space debris capture and removal.The scheme comparison and evaluation of all ADR methods are performed,and the applicable scopes of various methods are summarized.Each ADR method is scored using a cobweb evaluation model based on six indicators.Future development of ADR is discussed to promote further research interest.

Capture and detumbling control for active debris removal by a dual-arm space robot

Active debris removal(ADR) technology is an effective approach to remediate the proliferation of space debris, which seriously threatens the operational safety of orbital spacecraft. This study aims to design a controller for a dual-arm space robot to capture tumbling debris, including capture control and detumbling control. Typical space debris is considered as a non-cooperative target, which has no specific capture points and unknown dynamic parameters. Compliant clamping control and the adaptive backstepping-based prescribed trajectory tracking control(PTTC)method are proposed in this paper. First, the differential geometry theory is utilized to establish the constraint equations, the dynamic model of the chaser-target system is obtained by applying the Hamilton variational principle, and the compliance clamping controller is further designed to capture the non-cooperative target without contact force feedback. Next, in the post-capture phase,an adaptive backstepping-based PTTC is proposed to detumble the combined spacecraft in the presence of model uncertainties. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed capture and detumbling control method. Simulation results indicate that the target detumbling achieved by the PTTC method can reduce propellant consumption by up to24.11%.

A Novel Two-Level Optimization Strategy for Multi-Debris Active Removal Mission in LEO

Recent studies of the space debris environment in Low Earth Orbit(LEO)have shown that the critical density of space debris has been reached in certain regions.The Active Debris Removal(ADR)mission,to mitigate the space debris density and stabilize the space debris environment,has been considered as a most effective method.In this paper,a novel two-level optimization strategy for multi-debris removal mission in LEO is proposed,which includes the low-level and high-level optimization process.To improve the overall performance of the multi-debris active removal mission and obtain multiple Pareto-optimal solutions,the ADR mission is seen as a Time-Dependant Traveling Salesman Problem(TDTSP)with two objective functions to minimize the total mission duration and the total propellant consumption.The problem includes the sequence optimization to determine the sequence of removal of space debris and the transferring optimization to define the orbital maneuvers.Two optimization models for the two-level optimization strategy are built in solving the multi-debris removal mission,and the optimal Pareto solution is successfully obtained by using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II(NSGA-II).Two test cases are presented,which show that the low level optimization strategy can successfully obtain the optimal sequences and the initial solution of the ADR mission and the high level optimization strategy can efficiently and robustly find the feasible optimal solution for long duration perturbed rendezvous problem.

Prediction and experimental verification of tether net entanglement for space debris capture

This study involved simulations and experiments aimed at assessing the efficacy of a tether net in encapsulating space debris.The tether net was modeled as a spring–mass–damper system considering the influence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces and the occurrence of debris collisions.To examine the influence of collision position and size disparity between the debris and the net on debris capture status,the entanglement nodes of the net were identified.Experiments were conducted to evaluate the wrapping capabilities of the tether net,focusing specifically on debris capture.Subsequently,the results were compared with those of the numerical simulation.In the experiments,radio frequency identification was used to identify the entanglement points of the tether net.Previous studies have indicated that the ideal collision point for capturing debris using a tether net with the debris intended to be captured is located at the center of the net.However,the experimental results of this study revealed that a collision position that is slightly shifted from the center of the tether net is more advantageous for capturing debris in terms of tether net entanglement.

Dynamics of tether-tugging reorbiting with net capture

To control the growth of space debris in the geostationary earth orbit （GEO）, a novel solution of net capture and tether-tugging reorbiting is proposed. After capture, the tug （i.e., active spacecraft）, tether, net, and target （i.e., GEO debris） constitute a rig- id-flexible coupled tethered combination system （TCS）, and subsequently the system is transported to the graveyard orbit by a thruster equipped on the tug. This paper attempts to study the dynamics of tether-tugging leorbiting after net capture. The net is equivalent to four flexible bridles, and the tug and target are viewed as rigid bodies. A sophisticated mathematical model is developed, taking into account the system orbital motion, relative motion of two spacecraft and spacecraft attitude motion. Given the complexity of the model, the numerical method is adopted to study the system dynamics characteristics. Particular attention is given to the investigation of the possible risks such as tether slack, spacecraft collision, tether rupture, tether-tug intertwist and destabilizing of the rug＇s attitude. The influence of the initial conditions and the magnitudes of the thrust are studied.