https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-01023-z
Review
Ground-based laser effect on space debris maneuvering
1
Environmental Engineering Department, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Institute of Science and Technology, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
2
Aeronautical Engineering Department, São Paulo State University, UNESP-FESJ, São João da Boa Vista, 1387, São Paulo, Brasil
3
Academy of Engineering, RUDN University, Moscow, Russia
4
Space Mechanical and Control, National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
5
Department of Strength of Materials and Structural Engineering-Barcelona School of Engineering (ETSEIB), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Received:
15
May
2023
Accepted:
9
November
2023
Published online:
8
December
2023
Space debris events are increasingly frequent where they are sufficiently dense that the use of low Earth orbit space has now reached the point under the effect of mutual collisions. As a mitigation method, the goal was to study the efficiency of an orbital maneuver considering the gravitational effect and ground-based laser when the space debris traveling in a heliocentric orbit in the range of 1 cm to 10 cm and altitude ranging from 100 to 1000 km makes a close approach to Earth. An analytical model was performed considering factors, such as the laser’s fluency, the debris’s inclination, and the relative movement between laser and debris. The analysis was performed through the variation of velocity and energy after a close approach considering a single pulse laser. It is important in evaluating the orbital characteristics of space debris for better reentry of Earth’s atmosphere or avoiding collisions considering the impulse magnitude performed by ground-based laser. Some results show that the laser can perform a small change in and have maximum efficiency in energy variation of
that can be accumulated and perform energy of the reentry. In that sense, this study provides the literature with a general study of this maneuver, showing its advantages over more traditional orbital maneuvers, as well as the best conditions to avoid collisions and mitigate space debris.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.