4 - Dynamics of relative translation motion of spherical space debris during ion beam transportation

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the study of the motion of a mechanical system consisting of spherical space debris and an active spacecraft. Mathematical models of a space debris object’s perturbed motion and the relative motion of the active spacecraft are developed. An approximate expression that gives an underestimation of the fuel consumption for the spherical space debris object removal from a quasicircular orbit is obtained. The stability of the active spacecraft motion relative to the space debris object in a quasicircular orbit is studied. The control law for the active spacecraft’s thrusters is constructed for the case of a quasicircular space debris orbit. It is shown that the control law developed for a circular orbit can be used in the case of an elliptical orbit with a small eccentricity. Finally, the chapter describes a methodology for developing a space debris removal mission preliminary design.