Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Can the Orbital Debris Disease Be Cured Using Lasers?

Version 1 : Received: 24 May 2023 / Approved: 25 May 2023 / Online: 25 May 2023 (10:46:16 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Scharring, S.; Kästel, J. Can the Orbital Debris Disease Be Cured Using Lasers? Aerospace 2023, 10, 633. Scharring, S.; Kästel, J. Can the Orbital Debris Disease Be Cured Using Lasers? Aerospace 2023, 10, 633.

Abstract

Ground-based high-power lasers enable to, in principle, deorbit any kind of space debris object from the low Earth orbit (LEO) by remotely inducing laser-ablative momentum. However, the assessment of efficiency and operational safety depends on many factors like atmospheric constraints or the risk of debris disintegration during irradiation. We analyze laser momentum for a great variety of target geometries and sizes, and – for the first time in a large-scale simulation – include thermal constraints for laser irradiation configuration. Using a coherently coupled 100 kJ laser system at 1030 nm wavelength, 5 ns pulse duration in an optimized pointing elevation angle range, the pulse frequency should amount to less than 10 Hz to prevent fragment meltdown. For mechanically intact payloads or rocket bodies, repetition rates should be even lower. Small debris fragments sized between 10 and 40 cm can be de-orbited by around 100 to 400 station passes with head-on irradiation while objects exceeding 2 m typically require far more than 1000 irradiations for deorbit. Hence, laser-based debris removal cannot be considered a prime space sustainability measure tackling the top-risk large debris, yet it can provide for remediation of a multitude of small-sized debris using small networks of globally distributed laser sites.

Keywords

Space debris; Space sustainability; Kessler syndrome; Debris removal; High energy lasers; Laser pulse repetition rate; Laser ablation; Laser momentum transfer; Laser-induced heating; Thermo-mechanical integrity

Subject

Engineering, Aerospace Engineering

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