Design of a vehicle for active debris removal: PERSEPHONE (Performing Space Environment Protection from Hazardous Objects by Net Elimination)
Creators: name:  E. MEISSE 
name:   J. MARTINEZ-MORALES 
name:   P. BANGADY-KILLUR 
name:   M. COUASNON 
Publisher: name: Proceedings of  the 9th European Conference for Aerospace Sciences. Lille, France, 27 June - 1 July, 2022
Year: 2022
Subjects: SPACE DEBRIS
OBSERVATION
ORBIT DETERMINATION
ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL

description: The space sustainability is threatened by the proliferation of space debris, especially in the LEO region. Some companies are currently developing demonstration satellites for removal missions, but no debris has been removed yet. We conducted the preliminary design of PERSEPHONE (Performing Space Environment Protection from Hazardous Objects by Net Elimination), a spacecraft for active debris removal. Considering the main clusters of concerning debris, this vehicle will be devoted to remove debris between 700 km and 1000 km of altitude and its demonstration mission consists in the capture of an Ariane 5 upper stage at 789 km altitude. One of the main parameters taken for the selection of this target is that it is catalogued between the 50 most concerning debris [1]. In the approach taken, we brought and studied the concept of a flexible net to catch the debris whose rope is also used as an electrodynamic tether for debris descent. PERSEPHONEs design was carried on with the hypothesis of two possible launch scenarios: a dedicated launch and another in Piggyback. We have then analyzed the entire mission trajectory, which includes the following phases: injection in orbit for both dedicated and piggyback launch scenarios, RAAN-inclination-altitude corrections, reach the targets orbit phase, rendezvous and station keeping, capture, deployment of the tether, targets descent, and finally a controlled re-entry into the Earths atmosphere that will make the debris with the spacecraft fall into the SPOUA zone (South Pacific Ocean Inhabited Area). Chemical propulsion will be used for phases that require impulsive maneuvers and most of all for the last burn that leads PERSEPHONE and the debris to a controlled atmospheric re-entry. One of the high-level requirements that were determined is to avoid the use of toxic propellant, such as hydrazine which might be prohibited within the next years. After making trade-offs, the propulsion type selected is bi-propulsion and uses hydrogen peroxide with ethanol. For the targets descent phase, our vehicle uses an electrodynamic tether linked to the capture net. Considering the conditions of the mission, we estimated the probability of the tether being cut by a debris and determined its thermal behavior, dimensions, material, and mass. According to the preliminary characteristics of the capture net and the electrodynamic tether we were able to design the net ejection system, the tether spool and a brake mechanism that controls the release velocity of the tether. After the analysis and the architecture design of all subsystems, we made trade-offs for the selection of off-the-shelf components to assess an estimation of the dimensions and mass budget for this demonstration mission. In total, PERSEPHONE fits in a container of 1.8m heigh with 1.5m diameter and has an estimated mass of 365kg including margins, therefore it lays within the category of mini satellite. This study surprisingly showed that it is possible to deorbit the target in less than a year using an electrodynamic tether, complemented with liquid propulsion for impulsive maneuvers and controlled atmospheric re-entry. Moreover, PERSEPHONEs mission study will be continued, and we expect the system to get able to remove debris with mass higher than 2.5 tons after further optimization. Keywords: Space sustainability, space debris, active debris removal, electrodynamic tether, net capture