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Low Cost Orbital Debris Removal System
Navy SBIR 2009.3 - Topic N093-223 SPAWAR - Ms. Summer Jones - [email protected] Opens: August 24, 2009 - Closes: September 23, 2009 N093-223 TITLE: Low Cost Orbital Debris Removal System TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Space Platforms ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), an ACAT I program. The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation. OBJECTIVE: Develop a cost effective system design to remove high payoff orbital debris from medium and high Earth orbits. Build a prototype and demonstrate it in the space environment. DESCRIPTION: Recent events have exasperated the growing problem that orbital debris, or "space junk," poses to spacecraft. The Chinese anti-satellite weapons test in 2007 destroyed the ailing Fengyun-1C weather satellite, creating over 2,300 pieces of debris. The February 2009 collision between Russia's Cosmos 2251 and a commercial Iridium satellite also created a cloud of hundreds of pieces of debris. Orbital debris poses increasing risk to multi-billion dollar space systems and must be mitigated. Efforts to address orbital debris have primarily focused on preventing the future creation of space junk or removal of junk in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Some options have examined increasing atmospheric drag to accelerate orbit decay, which appears to be effective approach only at LEO. Many critical military and commercial satellite systems operate in higher orbits and will not be helped by such systems. Affordable system concepts to remove orbital debris from mid to high Earth orbits are needed. Launching any debris removal system into a mid or high Earth orbit will be expensive so debris removal efforts must be focused on high pay off items. Rocket upper stages and other items in orbit suspected to have non empty fuel tanks often end up exploding years after their useful on-orbit life has ended. When these fuel tank related items explode they create clouds of orbital debris. Candidate solutions should target these items. Once the technology is proven for these items perhaps it can be applied in other cases. The debris removal system must be simple but effective. Since the time for removal is not critical, removal systems could be attached to the debris and slowly de-orbit the debris. A cost goal for the de-orbiting system is less than $50K, not including launch costs. PHASE I: Develop a cost effective system design to remove high payoff orbital debris from medium and high Earth orbits. Tasks under this phase could include: PHASE II: Build a prototype debris removal system PHASE III: Depending on available launch opportunities, demonstrate the prototype in space on a target similar to the high pay off items discussed above. The chosen target should not contain fuel or explosive components likely to create a debris cloud in the case of a mishap. PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Space is increasingly used for commercial purposes. Commercial satellite operators could use this technology to ensure the area near their spacecraft is free of debris to avoid potential collisions. Satellite insurance companies may also use such a service to reduce risk. REFERENCES: 2. "Orion's Laser: Hunting Space Debris" Ivan Bekey, May 1997 , Aerospace America, Vol 35, No 5, pp 38-44. 3. NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov KEYWORDS: MUOS; orbital debris; MEO; LEO
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