A New Approach to Reduce Space Debris Spin: Using Gas Jets from Small Rockets

What is it about?

Space debris is becoming a serious problem for satellites and future space missions. This paper looks at a way to manage the spin of a tumbling object without touching it, by using small thrusters to shoot jets of gas or exhaust at the debris to slow down and control its rotation. The study integrates laboratory experiments in a vacuum chamber and computer simulations to measure forces and torque exerted by the exhaust gas on a flat plate representing space debris.

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Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Many pieces of space debris spin with an angular momentum which makes capturing them using robotic arms onboard a chaser spacecraft challenging. Directing gas plumes of chaser spacecraft thrusters is an effective and low-cost method to reduce space debris spin rate. This method avoids the risks associated with physical contact, which can create more debris if a collision happens. The computational and experiment results of the study show good agreement, confirming that the simulation model can reliably simulate how thruster exhaust interacts with debris in actual space conditions. These results pave the way for safer space operations and suggest that this method could be useful in future space missions.