Speaker
Description
Space debris removal needs a complex strategy of mitigation and remediation where technological innovations may open new routes and possibilities. At present, the use of cleaning satellites for debris capture and de-orbiting seems to be very promising. Nevertheless, traditional solutions are mainly investigated, from the net to robotized arms. It is evident that the grabbing device technology should be selected on the basis of the debris size to remove, and its orbiting characteristics as well as the different cleaning mission goals. In this scenario, shape memory polymer composite (SMPC) devices may play a very important role for small debris removal with undefined shape, mainly in the optic of in-space manufacturing of cleaning satellites. SMPC can freeze a non-equilibrium shape (open) and recover the equilibrium shape (closed) by heating. Heaters and sensors are integrated in the SMPC structure during manufacturing. The ESA project e-SpaDeS (Space Debris Suppression) has the goal to design SMPC devices for space debris grabbing. SMPC devices apply low grabbing forces and high damping during debris capture approach, thus minimizing possible fragmentation and issues due to debris spin. Moreover, SMPC devices are light structures with manufacturing procedures compatible with the additive logic, therefore in the line of the concepts for in-space manufacturing. The project aims to define, for the first time, the optimal SMPC geometry for debris capture. Present status of the results will be shown with the focus on the expected device requirements and new laboratory findings.
