Planning and optimization for a multiple space debris removal mission

The purpose of this research is to formulate and evaluate a mission plan for de-orbiting multiple pieces of large space debris, with the use of a flexible chaser-debris connection. Within this mission plan, continuous low thrust maneuvers are used to achieve the necessary orbital transfers by considering the trade-offs between fuel mass and mission time. Two sets of five debris have been selected for demonstrating the proposed methodology - both situated in lower Earth orbit. The orbital characteristics of these debris act as inputs in the analysis, together with certain chaser specifications. For each transfer, a modified Edelbaum methodology is used to account for the changes in semi-major axis and inclination. A drift orbit is optimized as part of the rendezvous phase in order to naturally change the RAAN of the chaser to match that of the debris. The outcome is the best possible trade-off between time and fuel for the mission and the transfer characteristics required to achieve it. Finally the results are compared and contrasted with a similar scenario where the de-orbiting method using impulsive transfers is considered.