Enabling strategies for safe proximity operations to uncooperative and non-collaborative objects in Low Earth Orbit

Enabling strategies for safe proximity operations to uncooperative and non-collaborative objects in Low Earth Orbit

Giacomo Borelli, Camilla Colombo, Gabriella Gaias

Abstract. In-orbit servicing, transportation and removal activities are on the way to revolutionize the space economy and space exploitation. Particularly for the near-Earth environment these activities are considered important in the near- and long-term future to ensure the sustainability of space activities. In this paper one of the many challenges facing this new expanding field is addressed, namely the safe and robust design of proximity operations with non-collaborative and uncooperative objects. Guidance and control methods are developed to improve the safety of various proximity operations phases, starting from the far-range approach at tens of kilometres to closer approach distances of few tens of meters. Furthermore, a guidance and control method of a servicer platform to cope with the uncontrolled tumbling motion of the target object is proposed. Here a contactless control approach exploiting safe relative trajectories and the thruster plume impingement is used to reduce the angular motion of the uncontrolled target.

Keywords
Proximity Operations, Spacecraft Trajectory Optimisation, Flight Safety, On-Orbit Servicing

Published online 9/1/2023, 6 pages
Copyright © 2023 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Giacomo Borelli, Camilla Colombo, Gabriella Gaias, Enabling strategies for safe proximity operations to uncooperative and non-collaborative objects in Low Earth Orbit, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 33, pp 171-176, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644902677-25

The article was published as article 25 of the book Aerospace Science and Engineering

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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