Satellites’ constellations are on the way to revolutionize the space market by launching tens of thousands of satellites in Low Earth Orbits (LEO). How can we guarantee the long-term sustainability of a large constellation? One solution is explored in the recent paper by Giacomo, Gabriella, and Camilla published on Acta Astronautica which design an active debris removal service for large constellations.
The paper presents the design of the challenging rendezvous and proximity operations within the active debris removal mission. A GNC design is proposed for the far and mid-range rendezvous enhancing the angles-only navigation solution with an efficient analytic guidance scheme. Moreover, inspection and target plume impingement operations phases are designed to robustly prepare for the capture of the failed satellite.
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