An Active Debris Removal Mission using a Plasma Phased Array Architecture

摘要

Space debris accumulation is considered a serious impediment to current and future space activities if removal technologies are not implemented. Because of the 2009 collision between communication satellites Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33, several thousand debris objects at least 10 cm in diameter were created and led to the rapid increase in densely populated orbits. In the past few years, several companies have announced their plans to insert mega-constellations of satellites into scientific and commercially relevant altitude-inclination bands of Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Even with the inclusion of end-of-life disposal plans, it is uncertain the affect these mega-constellations could have on the long-term sustainability of the LEO environment. As such, a plasma phased array (PPA) technology is proposed as a novel hybrid active debris removal technique, implementing both contact and contactless methods. The PPA utilizes high-power solid-state switching power units to maintain a low alpha parameter (kg/kW) and can be embedded into a satellite architecture to demonstrate the remediation of target debris. A set of five target debris have been selected for removal from the Sun-Synchronous Orbit. NASA's General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) is used to simulate orbital trajectories, transfer times, and mass fuel consumption. With advancements in high-power solar electric modules, the PPA architecture can be a competititve solution to minimize the space debris problem, allowing for sustained spaced-based operations.