Using infrared based relative navigation for active debris removal

A debris-free space environment is becoming a necessity for current and future missions and activities planned in the coming years. The only means of sustaining the orbital environment at a safe level for strategic orbits (in particular Sun Synchronous Orbits, SSO) in the long term is by carrying out Active Debris Removal (ADR) at the rate of a few removals per year. Infrared (IR) technology has been used for a long time in Earth Observations but its use for navigation and guidance has not been subject of research and technology development so far in Europe. The ATV-5 LIRIS experiment in 2014 carrying a Commercial-of-The-Shelf (COTS) infrared sensor was a first step in de-risking the use of IR technology for objects detection in space. In this context, Cranfield University, SODERN and ESA are collaborating on a research to investigate the potential of IR-based relative navigation for debris removal systems. This paper reports the findings and developments in this field till date and the contributions from the three partners in this research.

[1]  Shin-ichiro Nishida,et al.  Space debris removal system using a small satellite , 2006 .

[2]  Heihachiro Kamimura,et al.  Motion Estimation to a Failed Satellite on Orbit using Stereo Vision and 3D Model Matching , 2006, 2006 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision.

[3]  Shinichi Nakasuka,et al.  New method of capturing tumbling object in space and its control aspects , 1999, Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications (Cat. No.99CH36328).

[4]  Bruno Cavrois,et al.  LIRIS demonstrator on ATV5: a step beyond for European non cooperative navigation system , 2015 .

[5]  Tim Luu,et al.  Space shuttle testing of the TriDAR 3D rendezvous and docking sensor , 2012, J. Field Robotics.

[6]  Wigbert Fehse.  Rendezvous with and Capture / Removal of Non-Cooperative Bodies in Orbit: The Technical Challenges , 2014 .

[7]  Wigbert Fehse,et al.  Automated Rendezvous and Docking of Spacecraft: Mating systems , 2003 .

[8]  Zhongping Zhang,et al.  Attitude and Spin Period of Space Debris Envisat Measured by Satellite Laser Ranging , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[9]  R. Le Letty,et al.  ESA Technologies for Space Debris Remediation , 2013 .

[10]  D. Siddons.  Detectors , 2018, Synchrotron Radiation News.

[11]  Shin-ichiro Nishida,et al.  Strategy for capturing of a tumbling space debris , 2011 .

[12]  Erwin Mooij,et al.  Active debris removal: Aspects of trajectories, communication and illumination during final approach , 2015 .

[13]  Dimitry Gorinevsky,et al.  Fault Tolerant Relative Navigation using Inertial and Relative Sensors , 2007 .

[14]  John S. Zelek,et al.  Structure from Infrared Stereo Images , 2008, 2008 Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision.

[15]  Éric Marchand,et al.  Tracking complex targets for space rendezvous and debris removal applications , 2012, 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[16]  N. Aouf,et al.  Evaluation of Feature Detectors for Infrared Imaging in view of Active Debris Removal , 2017 .

[17]  Giorgio Panin,et al.  Vision-based localization for on-orbit servicing of a partially cooperative satellite , 2015 .

[18]  Lester J. Kozlowski,et al.  INFRARED DETECTOR ARRAYS , 2009 .

[19]  Andrew Zisserman,et al.  Multiple View Geometry , 1999 .

[20]  Christophe Bonnal,et al.  Active debris removal: Recent progress and current trends , 2013 .