The active space debris removal mission RemoveDebris. Part 2: In orbit operations

Abstract

This is the second of two companion papers that describe the development of the RemoveDEBRIS space mission. This second article describes the in-orbit operations that were performed to demonstrate technologies to be used for the active removal of space debris, whereas the first paper described the development of the satellite's hardware. The RemoveDebris mission has been the world's first Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission to successfully demonstrate, in orbit, some cost effective technologies, including net and harpoon capture; and elements of the whole sequence of operations, like the visionbased navigation. The satellite was launched the 2 nd of April 2018, to the International Space Station (ISS) and from there, on the 20 th of June 2018, was deployed via the NanoRacks Kaber system into an orbit of 405 km altitude. During the mission, two 2U CubeSats have been released by the mothercraft platform as artificial debris targets, to demonstrate net capture and cameras to be used for vision based navigation. Harpoon capture has been demonstrated by deploying a target and then firing at it a harpoon tethered to the platform. The various phases of the missions have been monitored using relevant telemetry and video cameras, and this paper reports the results of the various demonstrations.

Electromagnetic-launch-based method for cost-efficient space debris removal

“…Experimental space debris removal missions include the European Commission-funded RemoveDebris mission, the world's first Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission, demonstrating cost-effective technologies that can be used to observe, capture, and discard space debris, including net and harpoon capture. This experimental mission was successful and is discussed in Forshaw et al (2020) and Aglietti et al (2020).…”

Safe Proximity Operation to Rotating Non-Cooperative Spacecraft with Complex Shape Using Gaussian Mixture Model-Based Fixed-Time Control

“…(4) Iterate the steps (2) and 3until ∆J = J (k+1) − J (k) < ε, J is the distortion function of K-means, written as…”

“…In order to improve the utilization value of space and save on costs to the aerospace industry, research and development for on-orbit service are ever-increasing. For example, the Cubesat Proximity Operations Demonstration (CPOD) implemented an on-orbit demonstration of rendezvous, proximity operations and docking of two 3U Cubesats [1]; MEV-1 completed the proximity operation to IS-901 satellite, and inserted the docking mechanism into the throat of IS-901 engine nozzle to realize rendezvous and docking; the RemoveDebris mission has successfully demonstrated on-orbit net and harpoon capture and the whole sequence of operations like vision-based navigation for the purpose of Active Debris Removal (ADR) [2]; also the e.Deorbit project has planned to testing technology to clear out space debris [3].…”

The active space debris removal mission RemoveDebris. Part 1: From concept to launch

“…This paper examines the design of the mission from initial concepts through to manufacture, AIT, testing and up to launch. The mission operations from launch to the various inorbit demonstrations are described in the companion article [1]. Apart from a general consideration of the mission design, only elements of testing that differ from a conventional mission will be examined.…”