Junk Hunter: Autonomous Rendezvous, Capture, and De-Orbit of Orbital Debris

Abstract

The Junk Hunter mission concept is a space mission architecture designed to address the issue of removing space debris from Earth orbit. The Junk Hunter mission involves the removal of ten large pieces of debris from low earth orbit using ten small satellites launched from one launch vehicle. Each small satellite will be autonomously capable of rendezvous, capture and de-orbit of a large piece of debris, such as a dead satellite, and will consist of an existing de-orbit device integrated onto a commercial satellite bus alongside an innovative new device for debris capture currently being designed and tested by the REsearch and Development for the Capture and Removal of Orbital Clutter (REDCROC) senior project team at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Junk Hunter mission target debris will reside in an orbital range between 900 km and 1,000 km with an inclination of 82-83 degrees which has a high density of debris. Large debris, which can be continuously tracked on Earth and are 30 cm or greater in diameter, were chosen as the target because of the increased collision risk they pose. A single satellite debris capture architecture was chosen for this mission based on a number of factors including cost, simplicity, heritage components, and system redundancy. The Junk Hunter satellite consists of three major components: the LMx 9000 commercial satellite bus, the Gossamer Orbit Lowering Device (GOLD) de-orbit device, and the REDCROC debris capture system. The REDCROC system utilizes a deployable, inflatable boom structure supporting a mesh netting that can be secured around captured debris. The captured debris and Junk Hunter satellite can then be de-orbited, burning up upon re-entry, clearing orbital space of a large piece debris.

Adaptive sliding‐mode control for spacecraft relative position tracking with maneuvering target

“…Step 1 We will prove that the sliding-mode variable s can move to the set ‖s‖ ≤ in a finite time once s ∉ (‖s‖ ≤ ). For the case ‖s‖ > , is the solution of (21b) and (21c); substituting the projection-based adaptive law (27) into (24), one haṡ…”

“…In the domain ||s|| ≤ , the control gain is determined by (31). The worst situation is that: according to Lemma 1, there does not exist the sliding-mode s = 0, and considering the fact that | i | ≤ 1, the estimatesĉ 1…”

Analysis of an Experimental Space Debris Removal Mission

“…To the extent of the literature review, not addressed in any of the research is the impact of large projects such as Elon Musk's SpaceX project to provide global satellite internet with a 4,000 satellite LEO based constellation [18]. There have been several studies into possible space debris removal missions and some studies into combined body dynamics and detailed modeling of the different elements of a debris removal mission [2] [7] [9] [11] [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. There is no current research on using a Centaur and ESPA ring to host a secondary debris removal mission capable of capturing a dead rocket body.…”

Adaptive control and orbit determination for elliptical rendezvous

“…Autonomous rendezvous and docking (RVD) is a key technology for many space missions, such as re-supply of orbital stations, exchange of crew in space stations, and repair of spacecraft in orbit [1,2,3,4,5,6], which can bring the benefits of cost reduction, improved task efficiency, safety, and flexibility.…”