Space Debris

Dr. David Kendall Canadian Space Agency

International Interdisciplinary Congress

on Space Debris Remediation 11-12 November, 2011

Faculty of Law, McGill University

• 1st Canadian Orbital Debris Workshop held at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), June 21-22, 2011; summary report now available.

• Space Debris Studies Announcement of Opportunity (AO) planned for April 2012 release

• A Feasibility Study for a system to perform space debris detection and tracking has been completed to address needs of CSA’s Satellite Operations

• New spacecraft in support of monitoring of objects & debris: Near Earth Orbit Surveillance Satellite (NEOSSat) & Sapphire, launch date June 2012

• Initiated CSA-NASA Hyper-Velocity Impact (HVI) cross calibration exercise with Canadian facility

• Comparison of HVI Test Technologies & Gap Identification • Spacecraft–Debris collision events since May 2010: Radarsat-1(3); SCISAT

(1), Radarsat-2 (6): No maneuvers where necessary. • CRAMS (Conjunction Risk Assessment and Mitigation System), CSA’s

automated conjunction analysis system is operational since Sept 2011 • 2 Concept studies on Active Debris Removal (ADR) underway with

Canadian industry

Recent CSA Space Debris Initiatives since joining the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC)

Space Debris Monitoring from Ground

A Feasibility Study for a system to perform space debris detection and tracking has been performed to address needs of CSA’s Satellite

Operations. Key Requirements:

5 cm debris detection up to LEO (800 km) 5 m in-track x 50 m cross-track debris

position accuracy at time of closest approach

System Concept: 24 receiving antenna and one transmit

antenna operating at S-Band. Interferometric processing of received

signals to achieve high-accuracy tracking

Near Earth Object Surveillance Satellite Mission Objectives Near Earth Space Surveillance NEOSSat will search for near-Earth asteroids not limited by the day-night cycle of earth-based telescopes, and can operate 24/7. The hundreds of images per day will be downloaded and analyzed by the University of Calgary's NEOSSat science operations centre. Through NEOSSat, Canada will contribute to the international effort to catalogue the near-Earth population of asteroids producing information that will be crucial to targeting new destinations for future space exploration missions. High Earth Orbit NEOSSat will monitor orbiting space objects keeping track of the positions of both satellites and "space junk" as part of the High Earth Orbit Surveillance System (HEOSS) project by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). The information produced by NEOSSat will bolster Canada's contribution to international efforts to maintain the safety of Canadian and international assets, both civilian and military.

NEOSSat

NEOSSat Systems Description:

A microsatellite to acquire useful metric (position/time) data on Near Earth-orbiting objects (asteroids) and man-made objects (spacecraft) with altitudes between 15,000 and 40,000 km

Technical and Performance Characteristics

Optical telescope: collecting mirror 15 cm feeding two CCD’s (1024 X1024 pixels) camera: One CCD used for science measurement the other CCD tracks guide stars for satellite attitude control.

Spacecraft: microsatellite suitcase-size (1.4m x 0.8m x 0.4m. ; mass 75 kg) powered by solar panels; oriented by miniature reaction wheels and magnetorquers. Attitude control to within 10 arcseconds

NESS Mission Western Search

Field

NESS Mission Eastern Search

Field

HEOSS Searches for Deep Space

Satellites in Anti-solar direction

Sun

Moon’s Orbit

Venus Orbit

Geostationary Satellites

NEOSSat CVZ

Earth’s Shadow

NESS Mission Western Search

Field

NESS Mission Eastern Search

Field

HEOSS Searches for Deep Space Satellites in the

anti-solar direction

Sun

Moon’s Orbit

Venus Orbit

Geostationary Satellites

NEOSSat CVZ

Earth’s Shadow

NEOSSat Orbit

NEOSSat Mission Concept of Operations

Three S-band stations are located in St. Hubert, Saskatoon, and DRDC Ottawa to allow the NEOSSat team receive data from the microsat at 2 Mbps (S-Band). St. Hubert will be the main Missions Operations Center. Science users will direct their taskings via Mission Planning Systems to the MOC ground station to be up loaded.

NESS ScienceOperation Centers (SOC)

(Calgary, AL)

CSA MissionOperation Centre (MOC)

(St Hubert, QC)

MDA Ground Station(St Hubert, QC)

MDA Ground Station(Saskatoon, SA)

DRDC Ground Station (GS)

(DRDC Ottawa, ON)

CSSS Sensor SystemOperation Center (SSOC)

(CFB, North Bay, ON)

NEOSSat(Low-Earth Orbit)

DRDC Mission Operation Center

(DRDC Ottawa, ON)

Mission PlanningSystem (MPS)

(St Hubert, QC)

Joint Space OperationCenter (JSpOC)

(Vanderberg AFB, CA)

HEOSS ScienceOperation Centers (SOC)

(DRDC Ottawa, ON)

NEOSSat

Mission Status

• Project is presently in the development phase (Phase D) • Spacecraft Test Readiness Review (TRR) will be held in December 2011 • Target launch in Q2 2012 • At least a 1-year mission after commissioning and a goal of 2 years.

CRAMS (Conjunction Risk Assessment and Mitigation System), CSA’s automated conjunction analysis system is operational since Sept 2011

Autonomously process conjunction messages to produce & distribute: Probability of collision Maneuver Trade Space Collision Avoidance Box Depth of intrusion Visualization

Satellites screened: Radarsat-1 Radarsat-2 SCISAT MOST*

Satellite Operations

JSpOC R2 Alert TCA: 2011-05-25 14:27:20.397 - IN THE BOX ---------------------- CURRENT JSpOC CSM (201114419562) received at 2011-05-24 09:37 - TCA : 2011-05-25 14:27:20.397 (1.07 days from now) - Objects : R2 with COSMOS_2251_DEB - Angles : Approach/Velocity: 141.44 deg - Radial : IN THE BOX (Miss: 13.1m, Box: 126.8m) - In-Track : IN THE BOX (Miss: 58.5m, Box: 542.9m) - Cross-Track: IN THE BOX (Miss: 172.7m, Box: 404.8m) - Overall : IN THE BOX (Miss: 182.0m) - DOI : 3.391m (No concern based on DOI) - PoC(0) : 1.1334e-002 (STK (Numeric)) - PoC(1) : 2.9327e-002 (STK (Analytic)) - PoC(2) : 7.3323e-002 (STK Max Collision Probability) ---------------------- Excel filename: 2011-05-25--R2-COSMOS_2251_DEB.xls

Value-Added Data

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2

4

6

8

10

12

1995-2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Occurences

Year

Number of Recent Canadian Satellite Close Encounters with Debris

Radarsat 1 Warning

Radarsat 1 Maneuver

Radarsat 2 Warning

Radarsat 2 Maneuver

Scisat 1 Warning

as of September 2 2011

Space Situational Awareness Tool

10

Protection from Debris Hyper-Velocity Impact (HVI) Technologies

Courtesy of Dr. Vincent Tanguay, DRDC Valcartier

HVI Launchers:

• Two stage light gas guns:

˗ 100 g projectiles at speeds of 8 to 10 km/s (UNB/HIT Dynamics)

˗ 250 g at speeds up to 4.2 km/s (DRDC)

• McGill U./DRDC Technology based on two stage implosion-driven launcher: 1 to 10 g projectiles at speeds up to 8 km/s and beyond.

Hyper-Velocity Impact (HVI) Technologies

to better understand debris damage

CSA funded studies on:

Self-healing microcapsules embedded successfully within Carbon Fibers Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) by Concordia University and MPB Technologies

CFRP panels with self-healing agent tested with a launcher (McGill U.) simulating space debris impact simulation (using 3.0 to 12.5 mm diameter aluminium projectiles at speeds of 1.3 to 4.5 km/s )

These panels are also instrumented with MPB fiber optic sensors embedded in the structure to measure the temperature and strain changes due to debris impact

Self healing effective in this area (delamination and microcracks)

Microcracks filled with self-healing agent

New Technologies offering Protection from Debris & Repair

Concept from University of Illinois (Urbana US) [White 2001])

Active Debris Removal (ADR) • CSA continues to support Gov. of Canada evaluation of Canadian Industry (MDA) proposal for strategic funding of their on-orbit refuelling demonstration mission. This mission has direct application to active removal of debris in GEO.

• Gov. of Canada also evaluating regulatory environment surrounding on-orbit servicing and active debris removal. •There is a clear need for an explicit licensing regime.

• CSA is funding two Concept Studies (~250K each) to assess potential applications of on-orbit robotics technologies to the active removal of a large tumbling defunct spacecraft (debris) in LEO.

ADR based on Operations System Heritage In Space Robotics

CSA has delivered 3 state-of-the-art robotic systems for operational use in Low Earth Orbit: the STS (US-Shuttle) Canadarm, the ISS Canadarm2 and Dextre. Demonstrating the following on-orbit capabilities: Assembly, Inspection, Payload handling, Capture and Berthing, Cooperative Servicing, EVA Support,Robotic Servicing,Change-out of On-orbit Replaceable Units (ORUs)

Orbital Debris Remediation Concept Studies Two CSA funded Space Exploration concept studies examine use of space robotics to contribute to remediation of large debris :

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/media/news_releases/2011/1027.asp Start: October 2011. End: March 2012 Clear Sky Team: MDA, Bristol Aerospace, UTIAS, Cyber & Space Telecom Inc, Mafic

MODEL Team: COMDEV, Neptec, NGC Aerospace Ltd, ESI Automation and Robotics

ODR Concept Study Summary Objective

Develop a feasible and cost-effective mission concept based on robotic technology for removing orbital debris objects from LEO and other useful Earth orbits.

Scope

The studies will address key aspects of an orbital debris removal mission. The mission will consider removal of 3 medium to large debris objects per year, for ten years.

• Review of space debris environment and clean up • Operations concept • Mission requirements and analysis • Propulsion systems • Guidance, navigation and control systems • Sensors and instruments • Robotic arm and capture mechanisms • Autonomy and fault tolerance • Ground control and communication • Self de-orbit • Business opportunity • Feasibility assessment

Next Generation Canadarm (NGC)

NGC will advance the technologies needed to: safely dock with future non-operating or

defunct spacecraft Potentially extend the life of satellites Potentially mate and change orbits of

defunct spacecraft

CSA Vision Guided Robot To Capture and Stabilize a Tumbling Space Object

• The space manipulator is equipped with a grappling device and guided by a vision system • Challenge: The target is non-cooperative with uncertain dynamics and most likely has tumbling motion

Developed methodology: • Learning phase: Estimation of the pose, velocity, and inertia parameters of the target from vision data • Pre-grasping phase: Guidance of the robot to intercept the target at a rendezvous point with zero relative velocity (no impact) • Post-grasping phase: Cooperative control of servicer spacecraft and manipulator to dump the angular momentum of the target

Testbed Facilities at CSA Laboratory

• Docking testbed: Two manipulators simulate the relative motion of the target and space-manipulator according to orbital mechanics • Scaled model of the Quicksat • Neptec laser camera system

• Zero-G satellite simulator in three-dimensional environment

ISS Demonstrations of Key Technologies Shuttle-based NEPTEC Tridar Rendez-vous

Sensor Demonstration Station-based Rendez-vous and Inspection

System Demonstration Dextre Tool Demos (TBC) MSS Automation Demos (TBC)