Experimental study of laser ablative process on man-made space debris

Abstract

A threat to spacecraft in long-term low earth orbits is the high probability of impacts with small particles of man-made space debris in 1-cm to 10-cm size range. One possible solution for 1-10 cm size debris is to de-orbit the particles with a ground or space based laser. A modified torsional impulse balance system has been developed as a diagnostic tool to study fundamental laser ablative process on different material such as aluminum, titanium, magnesium and carbon fiber composite that are frequently used in spacecraft. Of particular interest is the force due to process of laser ablation as well as the impulse coupling coefficient. It can be concluded from the experimental result that for the experimental materials, with the increasing laser intensity, the coupling coefficient increase firstly and then decrease and it reaches the maximum at some value when the laser intensity varies around 10⁹ W/cm². And the experimental data compares well with the calculation result according to Phipps' scaling law. As we extend the previous research, it will provide a reference for the study in cleaning man-made space debris by laser.