Contactless Space Debris Detumbling: A Database Approach Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

This paper aimed to investigate the feasibility of a contactless method to detumble space debris by using thruster plume impingement during proximity operation. To detumble the rotational debris, the force and torque applied to the debris must be precisely estimated by an onboard computer. The high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach is one of the options for estimating the high precision force and torque applied on the debris, although it entails a huge computational cost. In this study, CFD results, under representative conditions with several relative attitudes and distances, were plotted on a multidimensional map. Then force and torque were derived from the interpolated discrete mapped data, thus reducing the computational time. The present study designed a guidance and control algorithm for debris removal spacecraft, in order to achieve safe and efficient detumbling using estimated force and torque. Dynamics simulations were conducted using this approach to detumble large space debris objects, assuming an upper-stage rocket. The results showed that the contactless detumbling of space debris can be achieved with reasonable fuel consumption and time.