As the orbital debris environment deteriorates, the threat to spacecraft is becoming increasingly significant. Additionally, current protection techniques leave them vulnerable to objects between 1 and 10 cm. The objective for this project was to design a “defender” space vehicle capable of shielding spacecraft from objects in this range of sizes. The design was divided into three stages: first, using SPH simulations, a shield capable of defeating large projectiles was designed based on existing shield types; next, a deployment mechanism that allowed the shield to be stored compactly for launch was designed and analyzed using a vector-based kinematics and dynamics method; finally, a general design of the service module was made. The final design consisted of an eight-layer shield with an umbrella-inspired deployment mechanism. It was 3 m in diameter by 7 m long with the shield folded and had a mass of 5100 kg; proving the feasibility of this measure. ; Outgoing
Conceptual design of a space vehicle for orbital debris protection
2013-01-01
Theses
Electronic Resource
English
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai::Astronàutica::Enginyeria aeroespacial , Launch vehicles (Astronautics) -- Design and construction , Launch vehicles (Astronautics) -- Safety measures , Space debris , Vehicles espacials -- Disseny i construcció , Vehicles espacials -- Mesures de sguretat , Residus espacials
DDC: | 629 |
Conceptual Design of an Orbital Debris Collector
NTIS | 1991
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|Conceptual Design of an Orbital Debris Defense System
NTIS | 1994
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