Detumbling large space debris via laser ablation

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to control the rotational motion of large space debris (the target) before the spacecraft starts deflecting its trajectory through laser ablation. A rotational control strategy based on the instantaneous angular velocity of the target is presented. The aim is to impart the maximum control torque in the direction of the instantaneous angular velocity while minimizing the undesired control components in the other directions. An on-board state estimation and control algorithm is then implemented. It simultaneously provides an optimal control of the rotational motion of the target through the combination of a LIDAR and a navigation camera. The instantaneous angular velocity of the debris is estimated through the application of the optic flow technique. The whole control and estimation technique is applied to the case of cylindrical and parallelepiped shapes as representative of upper stages and spacecraft. When applied to the cylindrical shape, results show that the control strategy and laser technique fail to control along three directions unless the geometrical axes are different from the inertial ones. In general the thrust vector is aligned with the normal to the local surface meaning that no control torque can be exerted along the longitudinal axis in the case of an ideal cylinder

Peaceful Use of Lasers in Space: Context-Based Legitimacy in Global Governance of Large Technical Systems

“…In principle, the solution for small hard-to-remove debris is at hand. The use of lasers for maneuvering and removing orbital debris has been theoretically and practically explored for ground-based photon pressure systems (Esmiller et al, 2014;Grosse et al, 2018;Phipps et al, 2012;Scharring et al, 2016;Soulard et al, 2014) as well as space-based ablation methods (Schmitz et al, 2015;Vetrisano et al, 2015). However, the involved actors remain reluctant to use the existing laser technology to remove dangerous debris, the main reason being the absence of widely accepted governing mechanisms.…”

Prospects and challenges of touchless electrostatic detumbling of small bodies

“…However, imprecise knowledge of the exhaust characteristics and the exhaust deflecting off time-varying surfaces could render this spin control very challenging. Similarly, laser ablation applied to the deflection and attitude control small asteroids has also been considered where the ejecta acts as a propulsive force (Vatrisano et al, 2015). Laser ablation techniques are also applicable to debris detumble (Smith et al, 2013;Vetrisano and Vasile, 2013).…”

Guidance and Control for Safe Contactless Plume Impingement Operations to Detumble an Uncooperative Spacecraft

“…[27] exploited the eddy current phenomenon induced on the target's surfaces by a magnetic field generated by the servicer. The exploitation of the laser ablation phenomenon experienced from surfaces in space impingement by a laser is explored in Kumar et al [28] and Vetrisano et al [29]. A viable and low-cost method for detumbling of debris is described in Benoit et al [30], where short-circuited magnetorquers onboard failed satellites are exploited.…”