Space debris selection and optimal guidance for removal in the SSO with low-thrust propulsion

Abstract

The current paper deals with the mission design of a generic active space debris removal spacecraft. Considered space debris are all on sun-synchronous orbits. A perturbed Lambert׳s problem, modelling the transfer between two space debris is devised to take into account J2 perturbation, and to quickly evaluate mission scenarios. A robust approach, using techniques of global optimisation, is followed to find the optimal space debris sequence and mission strategy. Low-thrust optimisation is then performed to turn bi-impulse transfers into optimal low-thrust transfers, and refine the selected scenarios.