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Space Debris Environment Remediation ConceptsLong-term projections of the space debris environment indicate that even drastic measures, such as an immediate, complete halt of launch and release activities, will not result in a stable environment of man-made space objects. Collision events between already existing space hardware will within a few decades start to dominate the debris population, and result in a net increase of the space debris population, also in size regimes which may cause further catastrophic collisions. Such a collisional cascading will ultimately lead to a run-away situation ("Kessler syndrome"), with no further possibility of human intervention. The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has been investigating the status and the stability of the space debris environment in several studies by first looking into space traffic management possibilities and then investigating means of mitigating the creation of space debris. In an ongoing activity, an IAA study group looks at ways of active space debris environment remediation. In contrast to the former mitigation study, the current activity concentrates on the active removal of small and large objects, such as defunct spacecraft, orbital stages, and mission-related objects, which serve as a latent mass reservoir that fuels initial catastrophic collisions and later collisional cascading. The paper will outline different mass removal concepts, e.g. based on directed energy, tethers (momentum exchange or electrodynamic), aerodynamic drag augmentation, solar sails, auxiliary propulsion units, retarding surfaces, or on-orbit capture. Apart from physical principles of the proposed concepts, their applicability to different orbital regimes, and their effectiveness concerning mass removal efficiency will be analyzed. The IAA activity on space debris environment remediation is a truly international project which involves more than 23 contributing authors from 9 different nations.
Document ID
20090007778
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Johnson, Nicholas L.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Klinkrad, Heiner
(European Space Agency France)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Subject Category
Space Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
JSC-17611
Meeting Information
Meeting: 5th European Conference on Space Debris
Location: Darmstadt
Country: Germany
Start Date: March 30, 2009
End Date: April 2, 2009
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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