PRE2018 3 Group1

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Group members

Name Student ID Major
Max van Mulken 1006576 Software Science
Mart Hagedoorn 1021524 Software Science
Niels Verstappen 0999624 Software Science
Rani van Hoof 1026024 Biomedical Engineering
Kees Voorintholt 1005136 Software Science

Introduction

This wiki is an information page about a study on a huge problem that is known as the Kessler Syndrome. This Kessler Syndrome is basically a form of cascade failure. It starts with for example two satellites colliding, this collision will cause a lot of debris to fly around in orbital space. This debris will then again collide with other debris, space stations or satellites, which can eventually lead to a shield of debris around the planet earth.

The importance of this problem will be further explained and several solutions will be considered and discussed.

The study is done for a TU Eindhoven course: Robots Everywhere (0LAUK0). While studying this problem and its possible solutions, it is made sure that the 3 USE aspects: User, Society and Enterprise, are central.

Problem definition

As mentioned in the introduction the problem that will be studied is the Kessler Syndrome. In the long term this shield of debris around the earth can have disastrous consequences. Starting with the consequence of not being able to send any new satellites into orbital space as they would get smashed by orbital debris immediately. At the speed of which these objects travel they will just shatter in tons of smaller objects and travel straight ahead. This means that now all these smaller pieces make a cloud of debris of which the total area is bigger than it was before it crashed. This cloud will destroy everything it encounters, only making the cloud of debris bigger and bigger.

But why would this affect the ordinary human being living his life on planet earth, the orbital debris is in space right why would we care? Well at the point where we have no more satellites in orbital space there will be quite some changes to our way of life. How would we make the important business call to a CEO on the other side of the world? How would we know what the weather will be for the coming weeks? All these things will become impossible without satellites.

Also it might seem like a future problem that we could maybe still prevent, however that is not true, in fact it has already started a long time ago. There are numerous reports of orbital debris colliding with satellites or space stations, the US government logged 308.984 close calls and 665 emergency alerts in 2017 alone [1]. Furthermore, on average a satellite crashes to the earth once every week which causes a rain of space junk that will burn up on the way to the earth. However some of this space junk may stay in orbit, which means the amount of orbital debris keeps increasing.

To have some kind of visualization of how much orbital debris is already out there, there are about 650.000 objects between the size of a softball and a fingernail. Next to that there exist approximately 170 million pieces of space junk that are smaller than the tip of a pencil [1]. All of this together with the roughly 23.000 satellites, rocket bodies and other human made objects, make a huge amount of objects flying around in orbit.

So if you had the impression that this problem was not very relevant, think again because it will change our ways of living drastically


Objectives

While studying the subject we have set several objectives for ourselves:

  • We will do literature study and based on these studies we will choose the best solution for the Kessler Syndrome.
    • The best solution should be based on several criteria like: safety, cost, effectiveness.
  • We want to make a clear design on how such a robot should be created.
  • After this design is created we want to model this solution to be able to run simulations on it.
    • Using these simulations we want to make visual representations in the form of graphs.
  • To support the feasibility of the best solution we will also use a simulation.

USE aspects

While the problem described above is a very ambitious one to solve entirely, we believe the work we can do in 8 weeks is more than enough to impact multiple stakeholders. We will identify stakeholder groups and look at what our project can do for these groups.

Society

The product aims to prevent or even solve the problem that the Kessler Syndrome poses, in the extent to which that is still possible. If prevention of or a solution to this problem is no longer possible, it will at least attempt to reduce the consequences and growth of the problem. The Kessler Syndrome poses multiple complications that will influence society in a major way.

Since the Kessler Syndrome will cause everything in orbit to be in danger of being damaged and/or destroyed, it will be very hard for humans to launch and maintain satellites into orbit. This has a number of consequences, since satellites are very important for society today. First of all, they allow us to do a lot of research of the entire solar system and even beyond the solar system, expanding our knowledge of our place between the stars. Perhaps even more important to some people, satellites have allowed us to be way more accurate when predicting weather forecasts and potential storms, which is not only nice when you are planning a camping trip but can also be a lifesaver when it concerns a hurricane prediction. Also, since communication over large distances works in straight lines, satellites have greatly increased the distance over which communication can work correctly, along with increasing quality of communication. Instead of having a direct communication channel between two points which can be blocked by a large building or a mountain, communication via a satellites allow the communication to avoid large obstacles. Society has prospered and greatly benefitted from these communication channels, delivering the Internet, modern television and even radio stations to millions of people around the world. Finally, satellites play a key role in navigation. The GPS (Global Positioning System), which is used by every piece of modern navigation technology, has not only allowed individuals to find their way around but is also used by giant infrastructures like air traffic control, and is used by corporations like Google to provide society with an all-inclusive map of the entire world. It is safe to say that satellites are key to modern society, meaning development of the Kessler Syndrome to disallow satellites would be disastrous.

While the project and product themselves do not entail a lot of direct consequences for the people, if something were to go wrong while disposing of orbital debris and a large piece of metal would, for example, come crashing down on a residential area, people would suddenly have a huge stake in the project as well. Society would be outraged. Thus, it is very important that if a orbital cleaning were to be put into practice, that it is done right.

Later stages of the Kessler Syndrome could form a cloud of space debris in orbit that would make it too dangerous to send any spacecraft either into or past orbit. This not only limits satellites, but we would no longer be able to send out missions to other planets or moons because of a fear of the spacecraft getting destroyed. We as a society would be forever stuck on Earth, unable to accomplish the dreams science-fiction has set out for us.

Enterprise

Enterprises that would suffer from this problem, were it not to be addressed, would be both enterprises that focus on space exploration and any enterprise that benefits from sending satellites into orbit. As discussed above, there are a lot of enterprises which would suffer from a lack of satellites since communication methods would suffer severely. Next to these indirect consequences, more direct consequences are suffered by enterprises like SpaceX and Orbital. These enterprises focus on space exploration and flight research to bring multiple benefits and large chunks of knowledge to the general public. Both of these tasks, especially space exploration, will become a lot harder were the close Earth orbit to be home to huge amounts of debris. It would greatly increase the risk of crafts being damaged when send into or beyond orbit. Thus, it is in these enterprise’s best interest that the Kessler Syndrome’s effect is reduced.

State of the Art

One of the most important things to do at the start of this project is to understand the state of the art of the current technology. The literature study is divided in two relevant topics: How to track space debris? How to remove space debris?

The first will cover the state of the art in finding and tracking debris in space. Where the second will focus on the methods on how to remove pieces of debris from space. We will divide the topic on how to remove space debris in several parts, such that all parts focus on the state of the art of one method.

Literature study on tracking space debris

There is already a lot of information available on debris that is in orbit around the earth.[2] The sources of this debris are normal launch operations, certain operations in space, fragmentations as a result of explosions and collisions in space, firings of satellite solidrocket motors, material ageing effects, and leaking thermal-control systems.[3] To track those pieces of debris several techniques are developed. At this moment the pieces of debris that are bigger than 10 cm can be tracked. Nowadays, space-object tracking is done with radar technology. To track debris, a radar beam is aimed to a predetermined position in space. When a piece of debris is observed, this piece will be tracked and the motion of the debris is saved. With the motion data of the debris the orbit can be calculated.[3] With this technology we can track pieces of at least 10 cm, but pieces of debris greater than 1 cm can seriously damage satellites. At this moment tracking of debris that is smaller than 1 cm is extremely hard because of the size, but also the reduced orbital stability. Also the total number of objects we have to track when we reduce the size threshold exponentially increase.[4]

In July/August and April/May 2013 a new technique for space debris tracking was tested.[5] Here a laser was fired and the reflected signal was received. Then the time between the laser that was fired and the received signal can be used to calculate the distance. These techniques of tracking space debris can be used for tracking satellites with reflectors, but not yet to track smaller pieces of debris. To be able to track smaller pieces of debris, we need to upgrade the laser power, laser irradiance and efficiency.[4]

Literature study on removing space debris

  • RemoveDebris

An experimental satellite called RemoveDebris was launched by the International Space Station in 2018. This satellite will perform three experiments with regard to remove space debris. The first experiment was performed in October 2018, RemoveDebris captured a dummy satellite with a net in low orbit. The research group says: “Our small team of engineers and technicians have done an amazing job moving us one step closer to clearing up low Earth orbit”. The idea of this technique is that satellites in the future can identify pieces of space debris and capture them with a net that is tethered to the satellite. Once such an object is captured small rockets can be used to drag the satellite and object back in the atmosphere. There is all a danger to this technique, it is possible that the captured space debris and the satellite collide and increase the space debris problem instead of solving it. [6]

The second experiment will be with the use of a harpoon, soon in early 2019 RemoveDebris will shoot a pen-sized harpoon at a composite target that will be deployed by the International Space Station. This technique is similar to that of the capture with a net, capture a piece of space debris and return it to the atmosphere, a harpoon can be used to capture larger objects that can’t be captured with a net. However a harpoon could also break an object in two which makes the overall space debris problem worse. [7]

In the third experiment RemoveDebris will deploy a drag sail that would speed up the deorbiting process of the satellite. A drag sail will be deployed so the satellite can re-enter the atmosphere and this will be the final experiment of RemoveDebris.

  • Ion beam

Ion-beams can be used to remove debris from space. An ion beam is a type of charged particle beam consisting of ions, this can be used in space to transmit a force to a nearby piece of debris. This force can change the course of the debris, but it can also be used to slow down the debris such that it will crash towards the earth. Depending on the size and material the debris will (partly) burn up in the atmosphere. In the literature study of PRE2016 3 Group19, we found more information about the ion beam. The most advanced technology that uses an ion beam is the ion beam shepherd (IBS)[8]. The concept of IBS is that the spacecraft is located not too far from the debris and is pointing his ion thruster towards the debris. The ions with a high velocity will transmit their velocity to the asteroid and the asteroid will change it direction and possibly slow down. There is another thruster that will cancel out the motion caused by pushing the debris.

  • Laser

The idea is simple, take a laser and gradually evaporate space debris till it doesn’t exist anymore or it changes of orbit. A lot of research has been done into this solution, it has been estimated that with a ground based laser it would be possible that under the right circumstances an object could be slowed down by 1 millimeter a second. [9] For most objects it would still take a long time before they are slowed down enough for them to break up in the atmosphere, but with this technique it would be possible to avoid major collisions. A downside is that a ground-based laser can only be used when the conditions are right, a laser wouldn’t be able to penetrate clouds. Another danger is that when the laser is aimed at a wrong part of a piece of space debris such a piece might explode of break apart. [10]

  • Gecko-inspired robot

Another technique on removing space debris is inspired from a gecko, the gripper that is used can be compared with the fingers and toes of the gecko. A gecko can hang upside down by their toes, since the toes are covered in a kind of bristles that stick when moved in one way and can easily be removed when moved in the other way. The grabber used the same adhesion technique, when the grabber is moved in the right direction, the debris will stick to it. The robot was tested in a zero gravity environment and could grab debris in a shape of a cube or an beach ball. This technique is not yet fully developed, next steps could be to develop sensors that could help monitor adhesion and the robot still needs to be tested outside the space station in a more extreme environment.[11]

  • Magnets

The last technique we will cover is using magnets to deorbit pieces of debris. This solution does not require contact with the debris, because magnetic fields can influence each other without contact. Therefore it is safer for the robot to use magnets, since no contact is required. The technique is based on magnetic field, these fields can attract or repel pieces of debris, to change the orbit or to completely deorbit it.[12] To create a magnetic field, superconducting wires are used that are cooled to extreme low temperatures. These field can then influence the orbit of multiple pieces of debris at once. A disadvantage of using magnets, is that they will not influence pieces of glass or aluminium and therefore the robots using magnets are only useful for debris that is made from elements that react to magnetic fields.

Best solution

From the work done by PRE2016 3 Group19, they concluded the the ion beam technology is the best solution for the space debris problem. We will discuss the solution shortly and then draw our own conclusion. The experimental satellite RemoveDebris uses harpoons and nets to catch pieces of debris to remove them, therefore it needs physical contact with the debris for these techniques. There is a disadvantage to physical contact, since there is a risk that the piece of debris is not caught and it will drift away. Furthermore when the net or harpoon is stuck to a piece of debris it might not be functional anymore. Like RemoveDebris, the gecko solution also tries to grab the debris and collect it. The biggest difference between those techniques is that there is almost no force needed for the gecko solution to grab the debris and thus the chance on pushing it away is smaller. We think that using this technique is the most desirable technique using physical contact.

The next possible solution is to use a laser to evaporate the debris. This will be safer for the earth, but it takes a lot of time to completely remove the debris. To use the laser it takes loads of energy, so it is almost not possible from space and a laser from the ground can only be used in the right conditions. Using a laser is not the only technique that does not use physical contact, we can also use magnets to change the orbit of debris. The biggest advantage of using magnets is that it can handle multiple pieces of debris at the same time and thus cleaning can be a lot faster. But it is only able to remove pieces of metal, thus glass and other debris will not be affected by magnets. The last, we think the best, solution is the ion beam. Since it is more precise than magnets and can easier be charged than an robot that uses a laser, the ion beam method seems like the best method.

Additional resources

A lot of additional research has already been done in this field of research. In the following section we will show the separate papers:

  • There are over 500.000 pieces of space debris that are currently tracked, these pieces move with speeds up to 17.000 miles/hour. [13]
  • General overview of the problem, with the addition of why the general public should care about the problem. [14]
  • The Kessler Syndrome explained. [15]
  • Threat of the Kessler Syndrome. [16]
  • Some possible solutions to the Kessler Syndrome. [17]

Getting rid of orbital debris

We considered two possible ways to get rid of the orbital debris by using an ion beam attached to the robot. We will discuss the pros and cons of these options and based on these we will choose one of them.

Push the debris in the atmosphere

The first possibility that we will consider is pushing the debris in the atmosphere of the earth. This will be done by shooting the ion beam towards the debris in such a way that the debris will get pushed out of orbit towards the earth. Then because of the huge amount of speed it reaches it will slowly burn up in the atmosphere of the earth. This is especially convenient for space debris in the low Earth orbit, because it does not require too much energy. The only downside of this option is that large pieces of debris might not fully burn up, which means that they will crash into the earth. This can be a great danger if the debris will crash in an inhabited area. However, there has already been found a solution for this, namely steering the crashing piece of debris in a direction such that it will land in the pacific ocean. This solution has already been realised and put into use. It is done by computing how to hit the piece of debris such that it will get directed to this “spacecraft cemetery” in the pacific ocean. In this way the larger pieces of debris will not cause any danger for humanity when they survive the crash through the atmosphere. On the other hand, it does not seem very optimal to have a big pile of space junk in the pacific ocean, so that’s still a bit of a downside.

Push debris to a graveyard orbit

The second possibility is pushing the space debris to a graveyard orbit about 300 km above the geostationary orbit [18] by using the same ion beam as mentioned before. This method is convenient for space debris that is farther away from Earth, because way more energy would be needed to push these satellites all the way to the atmosphere. Sending space debris into this graveyard orbit, these pieces of debris will no longer cause any harm to currently active satellites. However, this is a temporary solution, since eventually a shield of debris will occur in this higher orbit. Nevertheless, pushing debris to a higher orbit gives us the opportunity to find a real solution in time, because higher orbits have a larger path length, so it takes more time before a shield of debris will occur.

On the other hand, this method is less convenient for lower orbiting space debris, because it would require a huge amount of energy to push them in the graveyard orbit. Most of the space debris is present in the low Earth orbit, therefore, this method would not be convenient for the overall clean up of space.

Conclusion

After considering the pros and cons of these two possibilities, we came to the conclusion that pushing debris in the atmosphere is more favorable. This option has only one downside of creating a pile of space junk in the pacific ocean over time. However, the second option seems very hard to realise because of the amount of energy that is needed. Besides, the second method will not entirely solve the actual problem that we are dealing with, since the debris is only shifted and not removed from orbit.

General design concept

There are multiple actions the robot should be able to take in order to perform its task adequately. These are:

  • Get up into orbit after launch
  • Track pieces of debris
  • Decide what piece to clear
    • Plan/predict trajectory
  • Move towards the debris
  • Aim and decelerate
    • Where to shoot from

Getting to orbit after launch

There are multiple alternatives to getting an object into orbit. We will discuss some of them separately. The criteria to assess these methods are:

  • Feasibility
    • Technical
    • Practical
  • Costs
  • Safety
  • Pollution
  • Reliability

Expendable Launch Vehicle

A launch vehicle or system that is used only once to carry a payload into space. It is not recovered. This is the only way a craft has been able to get into orbit so far.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

This option is very feasible, most likely the most out of all options. It is already widely used to get objects into orbit meaning it is both practically and technically possible.

  • Costs

The costs of this option are relatively low on the short term. Since a lot of other methods in this list are giant structures that likely cost billions of dollars to build, this method seems to be a cheaper one. However, on the long term costs start to build up. Rocket fuel is very expensive. With this method, costs for sending only 1 kilogram of payload into space costs about 20.000 US dollars[19]. That’s 1.3 million dollars for the average human being. Thus, it seems that costs are a lot higher than it looks like at first with this method.

  • Safety

The safety of this option is quite high in the spectrum compared to other options. While it can sometimes go wrong since we would be working with combustables, the overall chance of it going wrong is quite small. This option has been tested and used very often and successfully meaning it can likely be used without too much risk.

  • Pollution

Orbital pollution is of course a bit of a kink in the plan. Since empty fuel canisters and worn-out boosters are dropped off in this option, it adds to the problem our robot is aiming to solve by (potentially) adding its empty canisters to the debris belt in orbit. However, if the robot is able to drop the canisters in time so that they fall back to earth then this problem is possibly avoided. Pollution in terms of the environment on earth is not too bad. Since the takeoff is a one-time occurence, the amount of pollution is not very significant.

  • Reliability

Reliability of the expendable boosters is quite high. Again, since this method has been used many times before it has been honed to not go wrong very often. Thus, this method is quite reliable.

Space Elevator

A proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, whose main component is a cable/tether that is anchored to the surface of the Earth and extends into space.

A space elevator would consist of a cable anchored to the Earth's surface, reaching into space.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

It is very hard to say whether a space elevator is actually something that can be built. It is safe to say that a structure this big would be the biggest humanity has ever built. The tether itself would have to be made from a material that is light, strong, weather/radiation resistant and not too costly. Unfortunately, such a material is not currently known to mankind. Additionally, climbing the elevator could take a very long time. It is difficult to power the cart going up and down reliably.

  • Costs

The costs for building would, of course, be enormous. However, estimations predict that having built a space elevator will reduce the cost of sending loads into space tenfold, to 200 US dollars per kilogram[19]. This means that, if an inexpensive space elevator would cost 20 billion dollars to build, the elevator would pay for itself after sending one million tonnes into space. This is a bit more than twice the weight of the International Space Station[20].

  • Safety

Safety is something that should be of utmost concern when building a structure like this. Were the elevator to break, the results could be disastrous. The upper part of the tether would drift off into space, potentially adding a large amount of extra debris into orbit. The bottom part of the tether could whip around the earth and also remain in orbit, which results in a large ring of tether around the earth meaning big problems for satellites and space flight.

  • Pollution

Orbital pollution will only be a problem were construction of the space elevator to go wrong. Then, orbital pollution will be off the charts. However, were the construction to be a success the space elevator may actually be a help in cleaning the debris, since the end of the tether could be made into a station the robots could go to to refuel or repair. Pollution on earth is a different story. A space elevator would require enormous amounts of energy to function properly. This energy has to come from somewhere. Since the most energy producing ways on earth are not very environment friendly, the space elevator may have a big impact on the environment. However, were the “green” energy production methods to be greatly improved within the next few years, this problem may be rectified.

  • Reliability

The reliability of the space elevator would depend on the material of its tether along with the amount of energy it has access to. Again, it is of utmost importance that the tether does not break since the results would be disastrous. The energy cannot run out either, since then the cart would stop and start falling back down to earth. Since there is no material currently known to be strong enough for a space elevator, and no energy production method (other than a nuclear reactor on board of the cart) that could provide for the space elevator’s needs, a space elevator seems to be not that reliable of an option.

Skyhook/Rotavator

The rotating concept. If the orbital velocity and the tether rotation rate are synchronized, the tether tip moves in a constant curve. At the lowest point it is momentarily stationary with respect to the ground, where it can 'hook' a payload and swing it into orbit.

A proposed momentum exchange tether whose main component is a heavy orbiting station, connection to a cable which extends down towards the upper atmosphere. Payloads are hooked to the end of the cable as it passes and flung into orbit by rotation of the cable around the centre of mass. If the tether is long enough and the rotation rate high enough, it is possible for the lower endpoint to completely cancel the orbital speed of the tether such that the lower endpoint is stationary with respect to the planetary surface that the tether is orbiting.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

At first this idea seems completely moronic. Flinging payload into orbit with a giant rotating tether does not seem like it would work very well. However, a study by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts published in 2000 proposed a 600 km long tether rotating with a speed of 3.6 km/s at the tip of the tether.[21]. This speed could be matched by a hypersonic airplane at about 100 km height to transfer the payload over. The aim of the study was to show that a structure like this is in fact possible with existing materials such as Spectra 2000, which is an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene [22] (meaning it is very strong and light), and the heat resistant Zylon. A further study in 2001 by the same team proposed increasing the rotation speed, increasing the height of the tether and changing the transfer method to a reusable rocket propelled vehicle. This would reduce the mass required by the tether by a factor of 3.[23]. The study concluded that “There are no fundamental show-stoppers”, that there are still some technological challenges to be overcome before the HASTOL (Hypersonic Airplance Space Tether Orbital Launch) system can be developed properly. It does tell us, however, that a system like this may actually be possible in the foreseeable future, both practically and technologically.

  • Costs

The costs of building such a system would of course be very large, but while there are no exact numbers available, estimates predict that the subsequent operational costs would be very low, and that the structure would pay for itself within a relatively small time frame.[21]

  • Safety

The study referenced above described a system that takes safety very seriously. With every single step taken the safety factor is taken into account. This results in a tether that can withstand multiple cuts on a single level, and even if the primary tether is completely cut it described a secondary tether that can withstand the strain as well. Thus, that leads us to believe that the Rotovator structure is quite safe.[21]

However, if the tether breaks the results would be even more devastating that the tether of the space elevator breaking. Since this tether already has a speed of 3.6 km/s when working properly, breaking of the tether could destroy large areas on earth, as well as destroying a lot of systems in orbit already.

  • Pollution

Orbital pollution could be avoided were the tether not to break. However, it is important that the Rotovator is on a different orbit than any other satellite or system in orbit already, since collision with the rotovator would destroy the satellite colliding with it, as well as it may disrupt the rotation speed of the rotovator itself. Pollution on earth would be negligible, since the structure would not even touch the earth. Also, the energy needed to keep it functioning is quite low since there is very little friction in orbit.

  • Reliability

Once set up, the structure works very reliably. The strain on the tether can be tested before construction, and the meeting of the airplane carrying the payload and the end of the tether can be plotted reliably beforehand. Thus, the system would be quite reliable.

Space Fountain

A proposed form of an extremely tall tower extending into space. A stream of pellets is accelerated upwards at a ground station. At the top it is deflected downwards. The necessary force for this deflection supports the station at the top and payloads going up the structure.

Hyde design space fountain.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

While this structure may work on paper, in practice it may prove a lot more challenging. While a space fountain like this would not need materials as strong as the structures described above, the particles would need to be accelerated to such speeds that it required amounts of energy we do not currently have access to. Thus, this structure is not very feasible.[24].

  • Costs

The costs of building the structure is not only enormous like with most of the proposed methods, but since the structure requires a lot of particles to be constantly accelerated at all times, the upkeep costs of this structure are very high as well.

  • Safety

The structure ought to be quite safe. While it is very costly, the structure has very little chance of falling back down because of the enormous force produced by the particles going up the tube. However, because of the amount of energy needed to accelerate the particles as well as the energy needed to climb the tubes with some sort of cart, the risk that the amount of energy that can be produced is not enough is quite high.

  • Pollution

While orbital pollution is not worsened by this structure, environmental pollution on earth may be quite bad. Again, because of the fact that most large energy production methods are not clean and the fact that this structure requires enormous amounts of energy, pollution is boosted.

  • Reliability

If built properly and somehow we find a method to produce infinite amounts of energy, this method can be quite reliable. However, since it is likely that we cannot produce the amount of required energy reliably, the structure is likely not a good option.

Orbital Ring

Orbital ring.

A concept for a space elevator that consists of an artificial ring placed around the Earth.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

An orbital ring is relatively feasible, even while it might not look like it at first. The materials requirements are not as harsh as, for example, those of the space elevator, since a ring has quite a strong structural integrity by design, and it would . It would, of course, still be a giant undertaking to get the ring into space, but the materials and techniques are already existent.[25]

  • Costs

The costs of creating an orbital ring is estimated at about 20 billion dollars. This is, of course, a lot of money. However, the costs of sending payload into space would be reduced drastically. Predictions say that, if an orbital ring is in space, trips to orbit would become as costly as a regular train ticket to a neighbouring city. [26] This means that the ring would pay back for itself very quickly.

  • Safety

The ring itself is very safe in normal operation. It is almost like a train track around the earth. However, were the ring to be hit by a large asteroid or another piece of space debris large enough to make a big impact, the results would be disastrous. In less than two hours, all the lifting elements will have reached the impact site. All the elevators to the ring as well as much of the ring itself would fall to the planet surface. An impressive cloud of orbital debris would remain in orbit for some time.

  • Pollution

Orbital pollution would, on normal operation, be negligible. There would of course be a giant ring in space that would have to be avoided, but this could be done relatively easily. Environmental pollution would not be that bad either. The trains on the rings would not require that much more energy than current trains on earth need, and elevators up to the ring would not require more energy than the elevators described previously.

  • Reliability

The issue with orbital rings is that everything has to go right the very first time it is attempted. One single mistake while building or utilizing the ring could lead to a disaster that is irreversible.

Launch Loop

A proposed system for launching objects into orbit using a moving cable-like system situated inside a sheath attached to the Earth at two ends and suspended above the atmosphere in the middle. The design concept was published by Keith Lofstrom and describes an active structure maglev cable transport system that would be around 2,000 km (1,240 mi) long and maintained at an altitude of up to 80 km (50 mi). A launch loop would be held up at this altitude by the momentum of a belt that circulates around the structure. This circulation, in effect, transfers the weight of the structure onto a pair of magnetic bearings, one at each end, which support it.

Launch loop.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

The option is not really feasible, since it will almost be impossible to get the whole structure of 2000 km to a height of 80 km. There should be materials developed that could handle the tensions and forces to keep the launch loop in the air.

  • Costs

The costs are not too high, since it should be build once and then the structure can be reused. The costs are estimated between the 10 and 30 billion dollars.

  • Safety

When one big part of the system would fail the system may explode with the power of a nuclear bomb. But when this system will be built far away from habitation, the impact will be small if something goes wrong, since no nuclear radiation will be emitted.

  • Pollution

There is almost no pollution with this launch technique, since no greenhouse gases will be created. The energy needed can be from clean power sources. No space debris will be created, since the objects will reach orbit without any help of other thrusters.

  • Reliability

If the system works, it is reliable, since the velocity of the object fired from the launch loop can easily be measured.

KITE Launcher

The KITE Launcher - using momentum to accelerate the payload.

This is a form of an endo-atmospheric tether. The idea involves towing an aerodynamic payload behind a large subsonic, or low supersonic aircraft with a very long (20 km+) cable. At high altitude, the aircraft executes a change of direction, and the resulting centripetal action, the intensity of which is dependent on the length of the cable and the rate of turn, will fling the payload into space.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

There should exist a cable of more than 20 km that can also hold the payload. The other aircraft should be able to carry this payload in the air. Also the payload should get a huge amount of energy to get into space, that may not be created with the aircrafts we have right now.

  • Costs

The costs are not too high, since no structure should be created. The only problem that would cost money is creating a cable that can carry the payload.

  • Safety

The KITE launcher can be relatively safe, if there is no other aircraft nearby. Also when the cable breaks, the payload should be able to safely come down to the ground, this problem can be solved by adding a parachute to the payload and open this parachute if needed.

  • Pollution

This technique still creates pollution, since it will use an aircraft to fling the payload in space. No space debris will be created.

  • Reliability

This method is not reliable, there are lots of different factors that have an influence on how and with what velocity the object is launched. First of all the method is not precise, the method only focuses on the velocity the object should get, but one cannot control where the object will go. Furthermore, wind, speed of the aircraft and the change of direction influence the velocity the object will get when launched. This means that it can get too much or not enough velocity when launched.

StarTram

A proposal to launch vehicles directly to space by accelerating them with a mass driver. Vehicles would float by maglev repulsion between superconductive magnets on the vehicle and the aluminum tunnel walls while they were accelerated by AC magnetic drive from aluminum coils. The power required would probably be provided by superconductive energy storage units distributed along the tunnel. Vehicles could coast up to low or even geosynchronous orbital height; then a small rocket motor burn would be required to circularize the orbit.

Electro-dynamic interactions in the railgun used in the StarTram.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

This technique requires an enormous structure of at least 22 km high and a length between 1000 and 1500 km. Also it should be able to create huge amounts of energy 22 km above sea level, which can be quite hard. This structure would require materials that have a lot of strength, but these materials do not exist.

  • Costs

The costs of the StarTram for transport of humans will be around the 70 billion dollars. So this technique is relatively expensive. Also there should be a lot of materials developed which also costs lots of money.

  • Safety

The StarTram is quite safe, the vehicle will be attached to a rail and have nowhere to go. Since it has a path over which it is accelerated, it is relatively precise.

  • Pollution

The vehicles still need a small rocket to get to their orbit height, so depending on the technique space debris will be created, but also there will be pollution in terms of greenhouse gases.

  • Reliability

The StarTram is relatively reliable, the object is accelerated along a fixed path. And with the additional thruster that is needed to bring the object into space, one can correct the path of the object. Therefore the StarTram is relatively reliable.

Space Gun

A proposed method of launching an object into outer space using a large gun, or cannon. Gun launch concepts do not always use combustion. In pneumatic launch systems, a projectile is accelerated in a long tube by air pressure, produced by ground-based turbines or other means. In a light-gas gun, the pressurant is a gas of light molecular weight, to maximize the speed of sound in the gas.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

The technique of guns is already known, and thus it should also be possible to make this in the large. The technique does not require to make an enormous structure or make use of materials that do not exist yet. The only problem with this technique that the projectile will gain so much speed in not that much time, that it is not possible to launch humans with this technique. It also need the projectile to have the shape of a bullet, otherwise things might break. The speed the space gun can give to the projectile depends on the mass the projectile has, the heavier a projectile the more pressure needed to give the same speed to this projectile.

  • Costs

The costs of the project are not high, since no new technique need to be developed. The space gun can also be reused for other launches. The only costs for development will be for the space gun and everytime a satellite is shot in space there should be a new capsule.

  • Safety

The system is relatively safe, when something goes wrong, probably only the projectile is lost, but new projectiles can still be fired.

  • Pollution

A space gun does not make use of thrusters that burn fuel, but it makes use of the difference in pressure in front of the projectile and behind the projectile. This difference in pressure can be generated by turbines that work on electricity. This electricity can be generated by clean sources. The satellite that is launched by a space gun should have the shape of a bullet, this can be achieved by making a capsule around the satellite. This capsule should be removed when the satellite is in space, this may create new space debris, or the satellite should push the capsule back to earth.

  • Reliability

The reliability of the space gun would depend on the accuracy of the gun and if it the projectiles get enough velocity. If the accuracy is bad, the space gun might miss the place where the satellite is planned, or the satellite might not reach space at all. But when it is better, it can be a cheap way to shoot satellites, not humans, to space.

Ram Accelerator

The ram accelerator is a device for accelerating projectiles to an extremely high speed. The idea consists of a long barrel, filled with flammable gases. The gases are contained in the tube by a diaphragm at both ends. To accelerate the projectile the projectile is fired with a supersonic speed through the first diaphragm them the projectile burns the gasses as fuel and accelerates under jet propulsion.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

The technique can only be used for payloads without humans, since the projectile will be accelerated to a very high speed in a small time, which will created a huge amount of G-forces.

  • Costs

The costs are not too high, everytime something is accelerated to a high speed, the tube should be filled with new gas.

  • Safety

When something goes wrong with the gases, for example when they ignite, there could be a huge explosion that will destroy the barrel, but probably also the area around it.

  • Pollution

Every time a projectile is accelerated the gases are burnt. This means there will be greenhouse gases created from burning the other gases. No space debris will be created with this method.

  • Reliability

This method is not tested in the large and there can be safety concerns. Also there cannot be controlled to what speed the projectile is accelerated, so it can be too slow, but it can also be too fast.

Slingatron

A slingatron accelerates a projectile in a tube or track that has circular or spiral turns. The projectile can be accelerated in the tube, by moving the tube in a constant circular motion. When the projectile reaches the end of the tube, it will be shot to space with a high velocity.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

To reach the speed needed to get a projectile to space we need an enormous tube and we need something that can make this tube rotate. This is not really feasible to move a structure like this at the right speed. Also the G-forces created by a slingatron are too much for a human body, so it is not able to shoot people to space.

  • Costs

The costs of a slingatron are not too high, since the structure does not consist of materials that are hard to make and it is not a structure that is hard to make or is of an enormous size.

  • Safety

The method is safe, but not for humans to sit in the projectile. Also the projectile is hard to control after it is fired out of the slingatron, this means that if it is not fired in the right direction, it may never come in space and crash on earth.

  • Pollution

No pollution is emitted if the slingatron is rotated by an machine that makes use of energy that is generated by clean sources. Furthermore the projectile would get a speed to get it into space, so no other thrusters are needed and no space debris is created.

  • Reliability

The slingatron is not reliable. First of all, once the movement has started, the projectile cannot be stopped anymore in a simple way. This means that if something goes wrong, the projectile will probably crash. Also the accuracy of the slingatron is not high, since the projectile is not really controllable in the tube, but also when fired, the trajectory of the projectile is fixed, this means that the satellite can end up in different places than planned.

Orbital Airship

The orbital airship is a technique being developed by JP Aerospace intended to launch airships into orbit. It makes use of three separate airships stages to reach orbit. The ascender, is the first stage and would be used to provide more lift to the airship that is launched The Dark Sky Station would be a permanent floating structure, that would allow transfer of cargo and personnel between the Ascender stage and the orbital stage. And it would also serve as the construction facility. Orbital Ascender would be the final stage for the airship. It would give more lift to the airship to lift it from 140000 to 180000 feet. To give enough lift to the airship, the Orbital Ascender should be over 1600 meters long to gain enough buoyancy. From 180000 feet it would accelerate with ion propulsion towards space.

Criteria assessment

  • Feasibility

This method is not feasible in the near future. It is needed to create three different stages for this launch technique. The first one should be able to provide more lift to the airship, this will be hard to have a structure in the air where the airship can be connected to to give more lift. The stage should be able to provide enough lift to the airship, this will be a huge challenge, since an airship is quite heavy. The second stage should be a permanent floating structure at around 43 km high, which not feasible with the current technique. The last stage would require humans to have an structure in space that is over 1600 meters long, where the largest airplane in the world is not yet 100 meters long.

  • Costs

Creating all three stages will cost loads of money. There are not estimations yet available about the cost of this project.

  • Safety

The biggest concern in terms of safety will be the huge structures in space. If something goes wrong and those structures will come down, it may have huge consequences for the place they will crash. Furthermore to lift the aircraft to space, it should have contact with all three stages at least once to give the aircraft the boost it needs.This requires precision, since if something goes wrong with the contact, it will have consequences for the people in the aircraft.

  • Pollution

The pollution emitted by the aircraft is the only pollution to get it into space, since the stages do not work with thrusters to gain height. There will not be any space debris, since the aircraft does not use fuel tanks that are later dropped by the aircraft.

  • Reliability

If the orbital airship method can be executed there are still some risks when executing the method. For all stages it might be hard for the airship to profit from it. The airship should use the three stages, but to use them, it need to have some kind of contact to gain altitude. Also the first and the third stage are both really dependent on the weather. Since those are floating platforms in the air, they are relatively susceptible for the weather. If there is a lot of wind, they could drift off and then it costs energy to move them back to the right place.

Solution Criteria

We assessed the following requirements, preferences and constraints for the robot design.

Requirements

The robot:

  • Needs appropriate fuel tanks such that it can get in orbit.
  • Should be able to move around in space by changing its direction and speed.
  • Needs to reach a minimal speed of ...
  • Should be able to precisely detect orbital debris within a range of at least … km.
  • Has to push the debris it detects into to atmosphere where it will burn up.
  • Has to contain two ion beams that can target objects in 360 degree space together.
    • One beam is used to move space debris and the other is necessary to keep the robot in the same position relative to the debris.
    • The robot also uses these ion beams to propel itself forward and to adjust its trajectory
    • Electromagnetic tether?
  • Needs an energy source to charge the ion beams.
    • Solar panels.
    • Other options?
  • Should get a continuous stream of data from the earth on where the orbital debris currently is.
  • Should be able to avoid satellites if it encounters one.
    • SPACETRACK is the current program for worldwide Space Surveillance Network (SSN). It consists of multiple, dedicated, electro-optical, passive, radio frequency and radar sensors. The purpose of the SSN is not only space debris cataloging and identification but also satellite attack warning and space treaty monitoring. In total the SSN tracked 39,000 space objects.
  • Should be able to handle certain circumstances, it should be able to withstand:
    • Extreme temperatures.
    • Lots of friction and supplementary heat.
    • No gravity situations.
    • Harsh-radiation.
    • Heat flux: thermal energy absorbed by the debris.
  • Should be able to operate for at least 10 years.

Preferences

  • The robot should be able to propel itself as fast as possible.
  • It should have a sufficient reacting time.
  • The detection range should be as large as possible.
  • The robot should detect and clean as much orbital debris as possible in a given time period.
  • The robot needs to be efficient, it should not waste energy when cleaning space.
  • It should be operational for as long as possible.
  • The costs need to be as low as possible.

Constraints

  • Size: no larger than …
  • Weight: no larger than …
  • Cost: no larger than …
  • Robot parts cannot stay in orbit.
    • At end of life, all robot part need to be removed from orbit as well.

General design

Approach

First of all, a literature study is performed to assess the state of the art regarding space debris orbiting the Earth and the Kessler Syndrome. To prevent the occurence of the Kessler Syndrome, the space debris should be removed from orbit before it can collide with other debris. The literature study resulted in multiple possible solutions for cleaning space debris. These solutions are compared with each other based on ... , leading to the most promising solution. Afterwards, the best solution will be developed. First, requirements, preferences and constraints for this design have to be defined. Then the robot design will be specified based on these requirements, preferences and constraints. This design will be tested by simulating the robot during its task to track and clean orbital debris. This simulation … The robot will be put to the test by conducting simulation experiments to assess the … of the robot. Finally, conclusions … and recommendations for further research will be provided.

Planning and division of work

Week Concern Responsible member(s)
1
  • Define subject
  • Work plan
  • Literature study (10 references per member)
  • Introduction, problem definition and objectives (wiki)
  • USE aspects (wiki)
  • State of the art (wiki)
  • Approach, planning, deliverables, milestones and work division (wiki)
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 1
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • Niels
  • Max
  • Kees & Mart
  • Rani & Max
  • All
  • All
2
  • Tutor meeting 1
  • Process tutor meeting 1
  • Review of previous week
  • Literature study
  • References in APA style
  • Update objectives
  • Completed state of the art and selection of best solution
  • Add details to planning
  • Requirements, preferences and constraints for design
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 2
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • Mart
  • Max
  • Niels
  • Kees
  • Rani
  • Niels & Rani
  • All
  • All
3
  • Tutor meeting 2
  • Process tutor meeting 2
  • Review of previous week
  • Work on robot design
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 3
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
4
  • Tutor meeting 3
  • Process tutor meeting 3
  • Review of previous week
  • Work on robot design
  • Start working on simulation
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 4
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
5
  • Tutor meeting 4
  • Process tutor meeting 4
  • Review of previous week
  • Work on simulation
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 5
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
6
  • Tutor meeting 5
  • Process tutor meeting 5
  • Review of previous week
  • Simulation experiments
  • Update wiki page
  • Prepare tutor meeting 6
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
  • All
7
  • Tutor meeting 6
  • Process tutor meeting 6
  • Review of previous week
  • Finish simulation experiments
  • Finalise wiki page
  • Prepare presentation
  • All
  • All
  • All
8
  • Presentation

Milestones

Week Milestone Remarks
1
  • Determine subject for the project
  • Subject chosen: Cleaning up orbital debris
2
  • Selection of best solution
  • Finish literature study
  • Finish state of the art analysis
  • Requirements, preferences and constraints for design
  • Best orbital debris cleaning method: Ion beam
3
4
  • Robot design
5
  • Finalised simulation
6
7
  • Finish simulation experiments
  • Completed wiki page
  • Finish preparation of presentation
 -
8
  • Completed presentation

Deliverables

The deliverables are as follows:

  • Wiki page

This wiki page will describe the project progress in detail and will be updated weekly. It will contain all relevant information about the project and links to the end products.

  • Robot design

The literature study will result in the most promising idea that might aid in a solution to the Kessler Syndrome. A robot design of this solution will be provided.

  • Simulation

The designs of the robot will be put to the test in simulations that sketch the practical workings of the robot.

  • Presentation

This presentation will be held during week 8 of the project and includes an introduction of the Kessler Syndrome and the possible solutions. The best solution is considered further by providing the robot design and a simulation of this robot.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mosher, D. (2018, april 15). The US government logged 308,984 potential space-junk collisions in 2017 — and the problem could get much worse. Retrieved february 7, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/space-junk-collision-statistics-government-tracking-2017-2018-4?international=true&r=US&IR=T
  2. ↑ http://stuffin.space/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mehrholz, D., Leushacke, L., Flury, W., Jehn, R., Klinkrad, H., & Landgraf, M. (2002). Detecting, Tracking and Imaging Space Debris. Retrieved from http://www.pacaspacedebris.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Detecting-space.pdf Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "paca" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Greene, B. (n.d.). Laser Tracking of Space Debris. Retrieved from https://cddis.nasa.gov/lw13/docs/papers/adv_greene_1m.pdf
  5. ↑ Latifi, J. (2017). Literature Review: Space Debris, Track methods and the Danger of the Future Debris Environment. Retrieved from https://jblati14.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/gis636-space-debris-literature-review_latifi-jorida.pdf
  6. ↑ University of Surrey. (2018, September 19). Net successfully snares space debris | University of Surrey. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/net-successfully-snares-space-debris
  7. ↑ Pultarova, T. (2018, June 22). 1st Satellite Built to Harpoon Space Junk for Disposal Begins Test Flight. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.space.com/40960-removedebris-space-junk-cleanup-test-flight.html
  8. ↑ Bombardelli, C., & Peláez, J. (2011a, July 1). Ion Beam Shepherd for Asteroid Deflection. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from http://sdg.aero.upm.es/PUBLICATIONS/PDF/2011/AIAA-51640-157.pdf
  9. ↑ Mann, A. (2011, October 26). Space Junk Crisis: Time to Bring in the Lasers. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.wired.com/2011/10/space-junk-laser/
  10. ↑ Bates, D. (2011, March 16). Nasa to shoot lasers at space junk around Earth to prevent collisions with satellites. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1366838/Nasa-use-lasers-shoot-space-junk-Earth.html
  11. ↑ Choi, C. Q. (2017, June 28). Gecko-Inspired Robot Could Snag Space Junk. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.space.com/37335-robotic-gecko-gripper-microgravity-space-junk.html
  12. ↑ Williams, M. (2017, June 21). Let's Clean up the Space Junk with Magnetic Space Tugs - Universe Today. Retrieved February 9, 2019, from https://www.universetoday.com/136142/lets-clean-space-junk-magnetic-space-tugs/
  13. ↑ Garcia, M. (2013, September 27). Space Debris and Human Spacecraft. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html
  14. ↑ Hull, S. (2015, October 30). Is the Sky Really Falling? An Overview of Orbital Debris. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150023281
  15. ↑ La Vone, M. (n.d.). The Kessler Syndrome Explained. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-debris/kessler-syndrome/
  16. ↑ Pelton, J. N. (2013). The Space Debris Threat and the Kessler Syndrome. In J. N. Pelton (Ed.), Space Debris and Other Threats from Outer Space (pp. 17–23). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6714-4_2
  17. ↑ David, L. (2013, January 25). Space Junk Menace: How to Deal with Orbital Debris. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://www.space.com/19445-space-junk-threat-orbital-debris-cleanup.html
  18. ↑ Bethesda, M. D. (2010, November 9). The GEO Graveyard May Not Be Permanent. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_GEO_Graveyard_May_Not_Be_Permanent_999.html
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2016, April 8). Space Elevator - Science Fiction or the Future of Mankind? [Video file]. Retrieved February 16, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPQQwqGWktE
  20. ↑ Melina, R. (2017, August 4). International Space Station: By the Numbers. Retrieved February 16, 2019, from https://www.space.com/8876-international-space-station-numbers.html
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 The Boeing Company. (2000). Hypersonic Airplane Space Tether Orbital Launch System. Retrieved from http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/355Bogar.pdf
  22. ↑ Stein, H. L. (1998). Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylenes (uhmwpe). Engineered Materials Handbook, 2, 167–171
  23. ↑ The Boeing Company. (2001). HYPERSONIC AIRPLANE SPACE TETHER ORBITAL LAUNCH (HASTOL) ARCHITECTURE STUDY. Retrieved from http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/391Grant.pdf
  24. ↑ Lucas, P. (2003, July 14). Orbital Railroads: Beanstalks and Space Fountains. Retrieved February 17, 2019, from http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/orbital-railroads-beanstalks-and-space-fountains/
  25. ↑ Birch, P. (1982). ORBITAL RING SYSTEMS AND JACOB'S LADDERS. Retrieved from https://www.orionsarm.com/fm_store/OrbitalRings-I.pdf
  26. ↑ Arthur, I. (2017, June 29). Orbital Rings [Video file]. Retrieved February 17, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMbI6sk-62E

Other (not yet used) references

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