Space Debris Mitigation using Guided Solar Sails

In this work we are proposing a novel and safe way of disposing space debris by utilizing Solar Radiation Pressure. A group of co-operative satellites are employed having large reflective surface capable of reflecting solar radiation, mimicking the design of ‘Solar Sails’. As a result of the co-operative action of the satellites, a force field is created which dispose the space debris either into a safe grave yard orbit or to a non-periodic orbit resulting in its mitigation by falling on to Earth’s atmosphere. For validating the proposed idea, a numerical simulation is carried out, using realistic space debris trajectory information provided by the European Space Agency (ESA). As a case study a patch of space debris collection is chosen and the concentration of solar radiation force resulted in their orbital decay and falling on to Earth’s atmosphere. A preliminary design of satellites are considered and rigid body simulations are carried out employing attitude control by using actuators. The numerical simulations show promising results. The stability analysis of the proposed controllers are done using Nonlinear Control Theory.