Economic Benefits of Reusable Launch Vehicles for Space Debris Removal

New Space ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Richardson ◽  
Dominic W.F. Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Launch Vehicles ◽  
Reusable Launch Vehicles ◽  
Debris Removal

Space Debris Removal and Exploitation of Lunar Resources - Profitability Perspectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-33
Author(s):  
Mayboroda Alexander O. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Rocket Engines ◽  
Launch Vehicles ◽  
Low Thrust ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Reusable Launch Vehicles ◽  
Working Medium ◽  
Heat Shields

Removing at least half of space debris, consisting of large metal objects, could be a cost-effective activity if, first, it becomes raw material, along with other extraterrestrial resources such as regolith, for the production of heat shields which is aimed to return the upper stages of medium and heavy rockets and, secondly, as a working medium for low-thrust electric rocket engines of interorbital tugs. Heat shields from external resources provide a means of increasing the payload of reusable launch vehicles.

A Reconfigurable Guidance Approach for Reusable Launch Vehicles

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Schierman ◽  
D. G. Ward ◽  
J. F. Monaco ◽  
J. R. Hull
Keyword(s):  
Launch Vehicles ◽  
Reusable Launch Vehicles

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

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Chongyuan Hou ◽  
Yuan Yang ◽  
Yikang Yang ◽  
Kaizhong Yang ◽  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Orbit Space ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Electromagnetic Launch ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Electromagnetic Launcher ◽  
Cost Efficient

AbstractThe increase in space debris orbiting Earth is a critical problem for future space missions. Space debris removal has thus become an area of interest, and significant research progress is being made in this field. However, the exorbitant cost of space debris removal missions is a major concern for commercial space companies. We therefore propose the debris removal using electromagnetic launcher (DREL) system, a ground-based electromagnetic launch system (railgun), for space debris removal missions. The DREL system has three components: a ground-based electromagnetic launcher (GEML), suborbital vehicle (SOV), and mass of micrometer-scale dust (MSD) particles. The average cost of removing a piece of low-earth orbit space debris using DREL was found to be approximately USD 160,000. The DREL method is thus shown to be economical; the total cost to remove more than 2,000 pieces of debris in a cluster was only approximately USD 400 million, compared to the millions of dollars required to remove just one or two pieces of debris using a conventional space debris removal mission. By using DREL, the cost of entering space is negligible, thereby enabling countries to remove their space debris in an affordable manner.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document