Space Vehicles Commons^™

Satellite Maintenance: An Opportunity To Minimize The Kessler Effect, Bettina M. Mrusek Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Recently, there has been an emphasis on the growing problem of orbital debris. While the advantages of placing satellites into space are numerous, advances in satellite technology combined with the growth of the industry have resulted with a significant amount of debris in the orbits surrounding our planet. The harshness of the space environment has also contributed to the debris, as evidenced by the number of objects currently in orbit which are not operational. As the amount of debris grows, so too does the likelihood of collisions, ultimately culminating in the Kessler Effect. However, recent advances in propulsion, advanced navigation, …

Exploring New Lagrangian Cyclers To Enhance Science: Communications With Cubesat Technology, Pedro P. Llanos, Abdiel Santos Galindo, John Ford

Publications

This paper discusses the opportunities that abound by using the CubeSat technology to travel to and communicate with the International Space Station, explore space, monitor space weather, monitor space debris and perhaps travel to Mars.

Analysis Of An Inflatable Gossamer Device To Efficiently De-Orbit Cubesats, Robert A. Hawkins Jr.

Master's Theses

There is an increased need for spacecraft to quickly and efficiently de-orbit themselves as the amount of debris in orbit around Earth grows. Defunct spacecraft pose a significant threat to the LEO environment due to their risk of fragmentation. If these spacecraft are de-orbited at the end of their useful life their risk to future spacecraft is greatly lessened. A proposed method of efficiently de-orbiting spacecraft is to use an inflatable thin-film envelope to increase the body's area to mass ratio and thusly shortening its orbital lifetime. The system and analysis presented in this project is sized for use on …

Orbital Debris Removal Technologies: A Hybrid Electrodynamic Tether And Ion Beam Shepherd Satellite Design For Fuel Efficient Contactless Debris Removal, JöRn Mumme

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Space debris poses a serious threat to humanities efforts at space exploration as well as the expanding uses for earth-orbiting satellites. This thesis investigates the proposed technologies for the debris's removal both large and small. Focus is applied to the large debris removal technologies since the small size category is dominated by the ORION laser system. Furthermore, the large debris objects pose the most destructive threat upon impact to satellites. Electrodynamic tethers (EDT) as well as their control strategies, ion-beam shepherds (IBS), and tradition thruster methods are investigated for effectiveness and feasibility. Hybrid combinations of these technologies are investigated in …

Validation Of The Ballistic Limit Equation For Monolithic Aluminum Shielding At Geostationary Orbital Debris Impact Velocity, Brandon Holladay

Aerospace Engineering

The Cal Poly Electro Magnetic Rail Gun was used to eject a 0.370 gram, rectangular aluminum projectile towards a 1/16 inch monolithic aluminum plate at a speed of 280 ± 50 m/s. The resulting impact left a large attached spall on the back of the shielding. The impact damage was compared to an industry ballistic limit equation for a spherical aluminum projectile of similar diameter and was shown to have slightly less damage than the expected results.

In addition, an aluminum mesh double bumper shield was fired upon in order to verify its higher protection per aerial density as well …

De-Orbiting Upper Stage Rocket Bodies Using A Deployable High Altitude Drag Sail, Robert A. Hawkins Jr., Joseph A. Palomares

Aerospace Engineering

This report examines the effectiveness of a drag sail to de-orbit upper stage rocket bodies. Many other perturbations contribute to the de-orbiting of these rocket bodies, and these perturbations will also be discussed briefly. This paper will show the length of time needed to force the altitudes of various launch vehicle stages with varying drag area sizes to less than 100 km. The upper stage of the Delta IV launch vehicle in an orbit with an altitude of 500 km will naturally de-orbit in 720 days but when equipped with a 20 m² drag sail, it will de-orbit in …