scholarly journals Ion Beam Shepherd for Contactless Space Debris Removal

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 916-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Bombardelli ◽  
Jesus Pelaez
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Debris Removal

scholarly journals Analysis of the advantages of an aerodynamic compensator in contactless space debris removal

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
A.A. Fokov ◽  
◽  
S.V. Khoroshylov ◽  
D.S. Svorobin ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Position Control ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Orbital Plane ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Low Earth Orbits ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Propellant Consumption

A modified scheme of the known technology for contactless space debris removal, which is called Ion Beam Shepherd, is considered. This scheme uses an aerodynamic compensator in order to reduce the propellant consumption of the additional electrojet thruster of the shepherd spacecraft. The thruster serves to compensate the spacecraft motion caused by the action of the main electrojet thruster, whose ion plume “brakes” the space debris object. The aerodynamic compensator significantly increases the spacecraft cross-sectional area compared to the space debris object one. This fact, together with the aerodynamic perturbations acting in the direction perpendicular to the orbital plane, calls for estimating the propellant consumption of the control system thruster to maintain the required position of the spacecraft relative to the space debris object in that direction. The goal of this article is to identify the advantages of using the aerodynamic compensator in space debris removal from low Earth orbits using the Ion Beam Shepherd technology. The tasks of the study are to estimate the reduction in the cost of the momentum of the additional electrojet thruster during contactless space debris object de-orbiting due to the use of the aerodynamic compensator and the additional cost of the momentum of the thruster of the spacecraft – space debris object relative position control system to correct deviations perpendicular to the orbital plane. Using a number of simplifying assumptions, integral estimates of these costs are obtained. Using these cost estimates, it is shown that the use of an aerodynamic compensator is advantageous in terms of the cost of the saved electrojet thruster propellant (xenon) regardless of the type of the spacecraft control system thruster.

scholarly journals Ion beam shepherd satellite for space debris removal

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Merino ◽  
E. Ahedo ◽  
C. Bombardelli ◽  
H. Urrutxua ◽  
J. Peláez
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Debris Removal

scholarly journals АНАЛИЗ ЦЕЛЕСООБРАЗНОСТИ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ АЭРОДИНАМИЧЕСКОГО КОМПЕНСАТОРА ПРИ БЕСКОНТАКТНОМ УДАЛЕНИИ КОСМИЧЕСКОГО МУСОРА

2018 ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Дмитрий Сергеевич Своробин ◽  
Александр Анатольеви Фоков ◽  
Сергей Викторович Хорошилов
Keyword(s):  
Relative Motion ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Reactive Power ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Jet Engine ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Simplifying Assumptions

The article deals with the feasibility of aerodynamic compensator application in the scheme of the so-called noncontact method of space debris removal on the low near-earth orbits without mechanical contact of the spacecraft and space debris. Previously, in relation to one of the technologies for implementing such method of collection, referred to as "the shepherd with an ion beam", its modification was proposed, which consists in replacing the compensating electro jet engine with an aerodynamic compensator. The original compensating engine serves to compensate the reactive power of the main electric jet engine, which torch ion flow has a “braking” effect on the space debris. The idea of modifying the technology was to save the cost of an expensive working jet engine and reduce the starting mass of the shepherd’s spacecraft. However, this assumption was not sufficiently substantiated. The analysis of the feasibility of aerodynamic compensator application is made on the basis of calculating the mass of the working medium and the amount of electrical energy saved due to its application. The above mentioned calculation of the saved mass of the working fluid is made applying a number of simplifying assumptions. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the expediency of aerodynamic compensator applying is not obvious, considering the mass of the compensator and the complexity of the design of the spacecraft. At the same time, if in one mission of the shepherd’s spacecraft will presuppose to carry out several space debris removal on the orbit, then the application of an aerodynamic compensator become justified. The direction of further research involves a more detailed analysis of the feasibility of aerodynamic compensator application, including the elaboration of the compensator design, its mid-area control method, and simulation of the orbital and relative motion of the shepherd – space debris, consider the disturbing factors and the relative motion control algorithm

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.

Problematic issues of spacecraft development for contactless removal of space debris by ion beam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.A. Obukhov ◽  
V.A. Kirillov ◽  
V.G. Petukhov ◽  
G.A. Popov ◽  
V.V. Svotina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Ion Beam

Optical design and stray light control for the spacebased laser space debris removal mission

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Peixian ◽  
JunLi Guo ◽  
QIHONG BAO ◽  
Tao Qin ◽  
ren ge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Optical Design ◽  
Stray Light ◽  
Light Control ◽  
Debris Removal
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