The LASERS mission concept for active debris removal using laser ablation by a swarm of CubeSats

Iosto Fodde; Wail Boumchita; Aurelio Kaluthantrige; Vasili Savitski; Massimiliano Vasile; Jinglang Feng

The LASERS mission concept for active debris removal using laser ablation by a swarm of CubeSats

Iosto Fodde, Wail Boumchita, Aurelio Kaluthantrige, Vasili Savitski, Massimiliano Vasile, Jinglang Feng

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Abstract

The paper discusses the rising challenge of space debris, particularly in Geostationary Orbit, an area that has received less attention compared to Low Earth Orbit. The paper introduces the LASERS mission, designed to use a swarm of CubeSats equipped with laser ablation technology to safely and touchlessly move a defunct satellite from the Geostationary Orbit to a graveyard orbit. The mission specifically targets the defunct NASA ATS-3 satellite and aims to complete the transfer within 200 days. The use of a CubeSat swarm is justified for three main reasons: lower power requirements, the ability for duty cycles, and increased mission robustness due to distributed systems. The LASERS mission also serves as a technology demonstration and has commercial potential, as well as broader applications in Medium Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit.

Original language	English
Number of pages	11
Publication status	Published - 6 Oct 2023
Event	74th International Astronautical Congress - Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan Duration: 2 Oct 2023 → 6 Oct 2023 Conference number: 74 https://www.iac2023.org/

Conference

Conference	74th International Astronautical Congress
Abbreviated title	IAC 2023
Country/Territory	Azerbaijan
City	Baku
Period	2/10/23 → 6/10/23
Internet address	https://www.iac2023.org/

Keywords

space debris
cubesat swarm
laser ablation
orbital sustainability
geostationary orbit

Cite this

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title = "The LASERS mission concept for active debris removal using laser ablation by a swarm of CubeSats",

abstract = "The paper discusses the rising challenge of space debris, particularly in Geostationary Orbit, an area that has received less attention compared to Low Earth Orbit. The paper introduces the LASERS mission, designed to use a swarm of CubeSats equipped with laser ablation technology to safely and touchlessly move a defunct satellite from the Geostationary Orbit to a graveyard orbit. The mission specifically targets the defunct NASA ATS-3 satellite and aims to complete the transfer within 200 days. The use of a CubeSat swarm is justified for three main reasons: lower power requirements, the ability for duty cycles, and increased mission robustness due to distributed systems. The LASERS mission also serves as a technology demonstration and has commercial potential, as well as broader applications in Medium Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit.",

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AU - Fodde, Iosto

AU - Boumchita, Wail

AU - Kaluthantrige, Aurelio

AU - Savitski, Vasili

AU - Vasile, Massimiliano

AU - Feng, Jinglang

N1 - Conference code: 74

PY - 2023/10/6

Y1 - 2023/10/6

N2 - The paper discusses the rising challenge of space debris, particularly in Geostationary Orbit, an area that has received less attention compared to Low Earth Orbit. The paper introduces the LASERS mission, designed to use a swarm of CubeSats equipped with laser ablation technology to safely and touchlessly move a defunct satellite from the Geostationary Orbit to a graveyard orbit. The mission specifically targets the defunct NASA ATS-3 satellite and aims to complete the transfer within 200 days. The use of a CubeSat swarm is justified for three main reasons: lower power requirements, the ability for duty cycles, and increased mission robustness due to distributed systems. The LASERS mission also serves as a technology demonstration and has commercial potential, as well as broader applications in Medium Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit.

AB - The paper discusses the rising challenge of space debris, particularly in Geostationary Orbit, an area that has received less attention compared to Low Earth Orbit. The paper introduces the LASERS mission, designed to use a swarm of CubeSats equipped with laser ablation technology to safely and touchlessly move a defunct satellite from the Geostationary Orbit to a graveyard orbit. The mission specifically targets the defunct NASA ATS-3 satellite and aims to complete the transfer within 200 days. The use of a CubeSat swarm is justified for three main reasons: lower power requirements, the ability for duty cycles, and increased mission robustness due to distributed systems. The LASERS mission also serves as a technology demonstration and has commercial potential, as well as broader applications in Medium Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit.

KW - space debris

KW - cubesat swarm

KW - laser ablation

KW - orbital sustainability

KW - geostationary orbit

M3 - Paper

T2 - 74th International Astronautical Congress

Y2 - 2 October 2023 through 6 October 2023

ER -

The LASERS mission concept for active debris removal using laser ablation by a swarm of CubeSats

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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