Abstract
With the continuous progress in active debris-removal technology, scientists are increasingly concerned about the concept of space-net capturing system. The space-net capturing system is a long-range-launch flexible capture system, which has great potential to capture non-cooperative targets such as inactive satellites and upper stages. In this work, the launch scheme is studied by experiment and simulation, including two-step ejection and multi-point-traction analyses. The numerical model of the tether/net is based on finite element method and is verified by full-scale ground experiment. The results of the ground experiment and numerical simulation show that the two-step ejection and six-point traction scheme of the space-net system is superior to the traditional one-step ejection and four-point traction launch scheme.
Highlights
The large accumulation of human-made space debris in orbit is seen as a threat to acquisition and use of space resources in the long term[1,2]
An increasing consensus has been agreed that active debris removal (ADR) is required to ensure long-term sustainability of space resources [3]
The deployment radius in the two-step ejection mode is obviously better than that of the one-step scheme, which shows the superiority of the two-step scheme
Summary
The large accumulation of human-made space debris in orbit is seen as a threat to acquisition and use of space resources in the long term[1,2]. An increasing consensus has been agreed that active debris removal (ADR) is required to ensure long-term sustainability of space resources [3]. Space-net capturing is one of the most promising approaches considered for ADR[4,5]. The disadvantage of space-net capturing is that flexible net dynamics adds more complexity to system design and control. The deploying quality of the net directly determines whether the net could effectively capture the target or not. The deploying quality can be improved by active control method such as space robot tied to the net’s corners [7], the system complexity will be inevitably increased. As for the uncontrollable deployment process, the design of the initial launch scheme is extremely important, which is the base for the effective capturing of the space-net system
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