- 1Finnish Meteorological Institute, Space research and observation technologies, Helsinki, Finland (maria.genzer@fmi.fi)
- 2Aurora Propulsion Technologies, Espoo, Finland
- 3University of Luxembourg, Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, Luxembourg
- 4University of Bristol, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering, Bristol, United Kingdom
- 5University of Derby, College of Science and Engineering, Derby, United Kingdom
- 6Blackswan Technologies, Lithuania
We are proposing a mission concept for Active Debris Removal (ADR) of multiple uncooperative debris targets from Low Earth Orbit, using a minisat spacecraft ("mothership") carrying several Coulomb Drag based Plasma Brake¹ modules. The Plasma Brake technology enables very high downmass/upmass ratios for debris deorbiting. In optimal conditions, the ratio for such a mission could be up to 60, representing a radical increase in ADR performance of 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to the current state-of-the-art ADR missions, and drastically improving the cost efficiency compared to one-object-per-mission approaches. The Plasma Brake is especially competitive in the ~700-1200 km altitude range. The applicable debris mass limit of this deorbiting method is dictated by the demisability of the targets and is roughly 500 kg / Plasma brake unit. It provides a scalable, cost-effective method for reaching a net-zero space debris operations in the long term.
The mission scenario consists of transfers between targets and a sequence of mothership operations repeated at each target: rendezvouz, detection, approach, de-tumbling of the target, attachment of a Plasma Brake module to the target. The critical core technologies needed to realize the mission, and are currently at low TRL, include:
- Sensors, actuators and algorithms required for the proximity operations used to approach and de-tumble the target object,
- Capture/attachment technologies for uncooperative targets like: kinematic structures, Hoberman sphere mechanisms, electrostatic adhesive,
- Adaptation of Plasma Brake concept to work with uncooperative targets,
- Framework for choosing the targets of a a multi-object touring mission that maximizes the downmass/upmass ratio, including the navigation scheme and navigation algorithms.
Most ADR technologies so far are only viable for deorbiting large pieces of debris. The proposed system allows the effective deorbiting of much smaller pieces of debris as well, maintaining its effectiveness indefinitely to clean up the debris that is required by zero-debris targets.
The mission concept and development of the critical core technologies needed for the mission to TRL 4 (testing prototypes in laboratory environment) have been proposed in EIC Pathfinder call of October 2024 by the authors.
¹Janhunen, P., Electrostatic plasma brake for deorbiting a satellite, J. Prop. Power, 26, 370-372, 2010, https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.47537
How to cite: Genzer, M., Janhunen, P., Haukka, H., Knuuttila, O., Nyman, L., Kestilä, A., Yli-Opas, P., Mäkiniemi, K., Olivares Mendez, M., Martinez Luna, C., Bera, A., Scarpa, F., Maligno, A., Klimavicius, M., and Malinauskas, T.: PREMIER - Plasma Brake Multi-target Active Debris Removal Mission for Low Earth Orbit, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-4073, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-4073, 2025.
