A Study on Active Removal System of Space Debris

Since the number of satellites in Earth orbit is steadily increasing, space debris will eventually pose a serious problem to near-Earth space activities if left unchecked, and so effective measures to mitigate it are becoming urgent. Equipping new satellites with an end-of-life de-orbit or orbital lifetime reduction capability could be an effective means of reducing the amount of debris by reducing the probability of collisions between objects. On the other hand, the active removal of space debris and the retrieval of failed satellites by spacecraft are other possible measures.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Aerospace Research Directorate is studying a micro-satellite system for active space debris removal, and is examining the applicability of a GPS receiver and star tracker to orbital navigation and guidance.This paper discusses the proposed space debris removal satellite system.