Reference Scenario and Target Identification for Autonomous Active Space Debris Removal Methods

To alleviate the threat of space debris, a combination of debris mitigation measures and debris environment remediation techniques with regard to long-term environment stability is required. Hereby, active space debris removal (ADR), which is subject to this paper, addresses the latter. To evolve a concept for autonomous ADR on a representative foundation, a reference scenario placed in the current Low Earth Orbit environment has been generated. Due to cost-effectiveness, a single mission to dispose multiple targets is addressed. The filtering process is presented and a glance on the autonomy concept of cognitive automation is given.