Candidate Architecture for an Active Orbital Space Debris Removal System

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the application of systems engineering tools and techniques to the growing problem of orbital debris, with a focus on how to reduce this growing threat to space travel. The world’s space agencies have historically treated the orbital space as an infinite open sky where there was no concern about how much debris a rocket or satellite would produce during launch and the end of life of the satellite. Thus, not much thought has been put into how to keep the debris down to an acceptable level and no thought, until recently (~10 years), has been given to cleaning up the debris. This philosophy has been short-sighted and thus a failure. Using system engineering tools, such as the novelty/technology/complexity/pace framework, to analyze some of the previous approaches to this complex problem, we have developed and recommend an end-to-end approach to reducing and recycling orbital debris. This is reflected in a new architecture to enable effective and affordable removal of orbital debris. This architecture succeeds where others have failed due to the end-to-end philosophy, where considerations about debris potential and reuse/recycle are introduced early in any launch program. Requirements for on-orbit reuse of raw material can be accomplished using techniques such as additive manufacturing, centrifugal material separation, and induction heating. This paper demonstrates that an end-to-end architecture along with the application of technology from other areas outside the traditional space field will lead to an ability to reduce and reuse orbital debris.