Steerable Carrier Vehicle with Removable Capturing Units for Orbital Debris
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current devices for capturing and removing satellites and orbital objects from space lack the capability to safely and reliably return these objects to Earth, leading to potential collision hazards and increased complexity in space travel.
Innovation Solution
The device employs a steerable carrier vehicle with removable capturing units equipped with a propellant charge and a capture net, allowing for a tethered connection and using a thrust nozzle as a braking device to enable controlled re-entry of captured objects into the Earth's atmosphere, ensuring position stability and accuracy without active control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a capture net with weights is used for automatic opening, then the capturing mechanism can operate autonomously, but the device complexity increases due to the need for additional weights and opening mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The capture net is divided into multiple segments or panels that can be independently deployed and connected. This segmentation allows the net to unfold automatically through simple mechanical means without requiring complex central control mechanisms or heavy weights, thereby achieving automatic opening while maintaining relatively simple device structure.
2Productivity
If the capturing unit remains in orbit with captured debris, then the system can be reused, but the hazard potential for collisions increases in highly frequented orbits
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful presence of captured debris in orbit into a beneficial re-entry process. The capturing unit is designed to force the captured satellite or debris to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at a controlled rate, transforming the orbital hazard into a safe disposal method that eliminates collision risks while maintaining the ability to perform multiple capture missions.
3Measurement precision
If active position control is implemented on capturing units, then position stability and accuracy improve, but the device complexity and mass increase
Solution Approach 1:
The capturing unit is designed to perform position control functions through passive mechanical means rather than active control systems. The unit uses its own structural properties and the physics of the capture process itself to maintain position stability, eliminating the need for additional sensors, actuators, and control algorithms that would increase complexity and mass.
4Productivity
If multiple capturing units are provided on one recovery device, then the productivity of the mission increases, but the mass of the carrier vehicle increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capturing units are designed to be nested or compactly stored on the carrier vehicle when not in use. Multiple units can be housed within the carrier's structure in a space-efficient manner, allowing the vehicle to carry several capturing units without a proportional increase in overall mass or volume, thereby enabling multi-objective missions with improved productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for the safe and reliable removal of orbital objects, reducing collision hazards and simplifying the mission by enabling targeted re-entry with minimal complexity, while also providing mass and cost savings by concentrating necessary systems on the carrier vehicle.
Implementation Method 1
each capturing unit, which is equipped with at least one propellant charge of its own
Implementation Method 2
the propellant charge is equipped with at least one thrust nozzle embodied as a braking device
Implementation Method 3
each capturing unit is releasably connected with the capture net via a tether line
Data Source
AI summary
For capturing satellites and other orbital objects, one or more independent capturing units are releasably arranged on a spacecraft serving as a steerable carrier vehicle. Each capturing unit has a propellant charge and at least one braking thrust nozzle of its own, and a closeable capture net releasably connected to the capturing unit via a tether line. The net is deployed from the capturing unit to capture the orbital object. Position or attitude control engines of the carrier vehicle are operated for orienting the combination including the capturing unit and the orbital object captured in the net. The capturing unit is then released from the carrier vehicle, and applies a braking thrust to the captured object so as to deorbit the captured object together with the capturing unit.