First astrometric observations of space debris with the MéO telescope

The MéO (for Métrologie Optique) telescope is the Satellite and Lunar Laser Ranging (SLR) dedicated telescope of Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (France) located at plateau de Calern. The telescope uses an altazimuth mount. The motorization of the mount has a capability of 6 deg/s allowing the follow up of Low Earth Orbits (LEO) satellites, as well as Medium Earth Orbits (MEO) and geostationary (GEO) satellites, and the Moon. The telescope has a primary mirror of 1.54 m. It uses a Nasmyth focus equipped with an EMCCD camera. The telescope field of view, defined by the equivalent focal length and the size of the camera, is currently 3.4 arcmin × 3.4 arcmin.     

Debris swarms seen by SMEI

The large 3° × 60° fields-of-view of the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) instruments are oriented on the stabilized Coriolis satellite to image most of the sky each Sun-synchronous orbit. Besides observing coronal mass ejections, the SMEI mission objective, SMEI also has detected a plethora of Earth-orbiting satellites (resident space objects or RSOs) brighter than ∼8th magnitude at a rate of about 1 per minute. Occasionally, SMEI sees an RSO swarm: a sudden onset of a large number of RSOs, many more than the nominal rate, upto dozens detected in a 4-s frame. These swarms usually last for a few minutes. A sample of six such RSO ensembles is analyzed in this paper in which the distance and the direction of the velocity vector for individual objects are estimated. We present the observational evidence indicating that the swarms must be near-field objects traveling in orbits near that of Coriolis, and that the relatively speeds between the objects and Coriolis are low. Further, analyses indicate that the RSOs are quite close (<20 m) and are generally moving radially away from the satellite. The predicted encounter geometries for Coriolis passing through or near a small debris cloud is, generally, quite inconsistent with the observations. The most likely explanation consistent with the observations is that SMEI is seeing debris being ejected from the Coriolis spacecraft itself. An analysis of distance and brightness for a subset of the RSOs indicates that the median diameter of the debris particles is ∼80 μm.     

Debris area distribution of spacecraft under hypervelocity impact

Cross-sectional area is an important parameter for spacecraft breakup debris as it is the directly measured data in space observation. It is significant for observing and analysing the spacecraft breakup event to accurately modelling the area distribution of the breakup debris. In this paper, experimental study has been performed on debris area distribution characteristics of spacecraft under hypervelocity impact. The tests are carried out at the ballistic ranges of CARDC. Aluminium projectiles are launched to normally impact the simulated spacecrafts at about 3.0 km/s. The simulated spacecrafts are made up of aluminium plates, filled with some simulated electronics boxes, each of which was installed with a circuit board. “Soft-catch” devices are used to recover the breakup fragments. The test results show that: 1) the relationship between the cross-sectional area and the characteristic length of debris, which can be obtained in the logarithmic coordinates by linear fitting, represents the debris shape characteristic in a certain extent; 2) the area-to-mass ratios of fragments show normal distributions in the logarithmic coordinates; 3) debris made of different materials can be distinguished by different peaks on the distribution curves; 4) the area-to-mass ratio distributions can be expressed by a linear superimposition of several normal functions which represent the main materials of the spacecraft.     

空间碎片撞击卫星影响分析及验证

近年来,空间碎片环境日益复杂严峻,对卫星在轨飞行构成严重威胁,发生碰撞风险大幅增加。针对低轨卫星遭受空间碎片撞击问题,分析了撞击产生的二次碎片云损伤机理,提出了利用遥测数据评估撞击产生的影响,分析撞击信息的流程,设计了相应地面验证实验。结果表明:碎片云引发二次损伤为空间碎片撞击卫星主要损伤形式。碎片云可导致多层隔热材料(MLI)发生破损甚至严重撕裂、外翻,同时引起供电线缆损伤、导线被击断。破损的供电电缆,通过大电流后发生断路的可能性急剧提升,对卫星危害巨大。     

脉冲展开式飞网质量分布与展开稳定性优化

针对脉冲展开式飞网的展开稳定性问题,从网面质量分布角度开展研究。首先基于传递矩阵方法、集中质量法和反比例函数推导建立了较优的网面质量分布模型。然后结合遗传算法优化得到了网面最优的质量分布状态,并通过大量数值仿真和回归分析得到了网面质量分布经验公式。提出的网面质量分布模型有效降低了网面质量分布问题中的优化变量个数,提升了网面质量分布最优解的求解效率。网面质量分布最优解所对应的网面展开稳定性得到大幅提升,网面质量分布经验公式对应的网面展开状态与最优解对应的网面展开状态基本一致。结果表明,将网面质量分布模型和网面质量分布经验公式应用到脉冲展开式飞网将有效提升飞网的展开稳定性。     

A deformation model of flexible,HAMR objects for accurate propagation under perturbations and the self-shadowing effects

A new type of space debris in near geosynchronous orbit (GEO) was recently discovered and later identified as exhibiting unique characteristics associated with high area-to-mass ratio (HAMR) objects, such as high rotation rates and high reflection properties. Observations have shown that this debris type is very sensitive to environmental disturbances, particularly solar radiation pressure, due to the fact that its motion depends on the actual effective area, orientation of that effective area, reflection properties and the area-to-mass ratio of the object is not stable over time. Previous investigations have modelled this type of debris as rigid bodies (constant area-to-mass ratios) or discrete deformed body; however, these simplifications will lead to inaccurate long term orbital predictions. This paper proposes a simple yet reliable model of a thin, deformable membrane based on multibody dynamics. The membrane is modelled as a series of flat plates, connected through joints, representing the flexibility of the membrane itself. The mass of the membrane, albeit low, is taken into account through lump masses at the joints. The attitude and orbital motion of this flexible membrane model is then propagated near GEO to predict its orbital evolution under the perturbations of solar radiation pressure, Earth’s gravity field (J₂), third body gravitational fields (the Sun and Moon) and self-shadowing. These results are then compared to those obtained for two rigid body models (cannonball and flat rigid plate). In addition, Monte Carlo simulations of the flexible model by varying initial attitude and deformation angle (different shape) are investigated and compared with the two rigid models (cannonball and flat rigid plate) over a period of 100?days. The numerical results demonstrate that cannonball and rigid flat plate are not appropriate to capture the true dynamical evolution of these objects, at the cost of increased computational time.     

Will space run out of space? The orbital debris problem and its mitigation

An appraisal of current and future risks from space debris is presented with the aid of calculations carried out by the MASTER model. The efficacy of various technical options -- such as fuel venting, de-orbiting and use of a graveyard orbit -- for counteracting the problem is discussed. The article then focuses on governmental and international cooperative measures and looks at the recent work done by subcommittees of the UN COPUOS.     

空间碎片减缓策略效果仿真

根据机构间空间碎片协调委员会(IADC)和欧空局(ESA)的空间碎片减缓要求,在建立航天发射、爆炸和碰撞模型,以及碎片演化机制的基础上,对常规发射(BAU)、禁止在轨爆炸(NO-EX)和全面减缓(MIT)三种空间碎片减缓策略条件下,对2000~2100年空间碎片环境进行了仿真计算。结果表明,禁止航天器在轨爆炸、对失效的卫星和火箭上面级实施离轨操作,以及在航天器的发射和运行中不产生或抛弃分离物等减缓措施是限制空间碎片数量增长的有效方法。     

激光驱动典型几何形状碎片运动建模研究

在以往的激光烧蚀驱动移除空间碎片研究中,均假设激光光束覆盖整个所关注的空间碎片。文章提出了焦斑式激光辐照下球体、圆柱体和立方体碎片反喷冲量和运动姿态的计算模型,研究了激光辐照在3种形状碎片不同位置处所产生的反喷冲量和姿态变化规律。结果表明:碎片运动规律与碎片几何形状和激光作用位置有关,当反喷冲量过质心时,碎片获得平动冲量;不过质心时,则会改变碎片的角速度或姿态。研究结果可为激光移除空间碎片研究提供理论参考。     

航天器在轨服务捕获装置技术研究综述与展望

空间捕获装置是航天器在轨服务与维护任务的重要末端执行器,承担着捕获包括航天器、舱段、空间碎片及实验样品等多种目标的任务。根据被捕获目标的性质可以将捕获装置分为合作目标捕获装置和非合作目标捕获装置2大类。在捕获装置设计过程中,捕获目标是否具有特定的抓持结构则是捕获装置机构形式设计的先导因素,根据捕获目标是否具有特定的抓持结构,可以将捕获装置分为基于抓持结构的捕获装置以及非基于抓持结构的捕获装置。以捕获装置工作原理与捕获目标类型为分类依据,对捕获装置进行分类,分别阐述了其技术原理与关键技术,并对各类捕获装置进行了对比分析,根据分析结果指出了捕获装置未来的发展方向。