RemoveDEBRIS

RemoveDEBRIS
Name	RemoveDEBRIS
Mission type	Technology demonstrator
Operator	Surrey Space Centre
Launch date	2018-08-02
Launch vehicle	Falcon 9
Launch site	Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Orbit	Low Earth orbit
Country	United Kingdom

RemoveDEBRIS

RemoveDEBRIS was a technology demonstration satellite developed to test debris removal techniques for spaceflight. It was led by the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in cooperation with Airbus, Imperial College London, and multiple industrial and academic partners to validate active debris removal concepts in orbit following launch on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral during an era marked by activity from SpaceX, ESA, JAXA, and NASA. The project attracted attention from institutions such as the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the French National Centre for Space Studies, and international research groups at MIT and Stanford.

Background

The program emerged amid concerns highlighted by events like the Kosmos 954 reentry, the Iridium–Kosmos collision, and the Fengyun-1C anti-satellite test, which influenced policy discussions in forums such as the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. Funding and technical partnerships involved the UK Space Agency, the European Union research initiatives, and industrial stakeholders including Airbus Defence and Space, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., and academic teams from Imperial College London, University of Leicester, and Delft University of Technology. The program drew on earlier studies at NASA Ames Research Center, JAXA, and CNES that assessed risks to missions like Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, and commercial constellations by catalogued fragments tracked by organizations such as US Space Force and European Space Operations Centre.

Mission Objectives

Primary objectives included validating technologies promoted by bodies like the European Space Agency and national agencies for active debris removal, demonstrating capture mechanisms evaluated in previous research at MIT, ETH Zurich, and Delft University of Technology, and producing operational data to inform guidelines from the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Goals comprised testing nets, harpoons, vision-based navigation exemplified in proposals from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and DLR, and scaling lessons relevant to future missions similar to concepts proposed by ClearSpace SA and academic teams at University of Colorado Boulder. Stakeholders included regulatory and standards organizations such as International Organization for Standardization participants and policy advisors from House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Spacecraft Design and Instruments

The platform was built around a microsatellite bus developed by the Surrey Space Centre with subsystems procured from industry partners including Airbus Defence and Space and sensors provided by teams at Imperial College London and University of Surrey. Onboard instrumentation included a visible camera suite influenced by designs from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and ESA ESTEC for vision-based navigation, LIDAR components similar to systems tested by DARPA and JAXA, a deployable net mechanism engineered with input from Aerospace Corporation and MT Aerospace, and a harpoon subsystem conceptually related to studies conducted at ONERA and CNES. The spacecraft carried a dedicated CubeSat target deployment system integrating nanosatellite partners such as GomSpace, NanoRacks, and academic CubeSat teams from University of Tokyo and McGill University to emulate passive debris targets.

Demonstration Experiments

In a sequence of timed trials, the mission deployed targets and tested capture technologies inspired by independent proposals from groups including ClearSpace SA and ESA concept studies. Experiments included a net capture attempt reflecting engineering work at University of Strathclyde and Imperial College London, a harpoon test drawing on heritage studies from CNES and ONERA, a vision-based navigation trial using algorithms developed at University of Surrey and validated against techniques from Caltech and MIT, and a dragsail deployment for deorbiting consistent with concepts advanced at SSTL and DLR. The mission integrated operational modes similar to rendezvous demonstrations by Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency missions and cooperative-proximity techniques studied by NASA and ESA.

Results and Findings

The mission successfully demonstrated the deployment of CubeSat targets and validated the vision-based navigation suite, providing data comparable to tests at NASA Ames Research Center and simulation results from Imperial College London. The net deployment experiment captured a target under controlled conditions, informing design trade-offs discussed in workshops at ESA ESTEC and conferences hosted by AIAA and IAC. The harpoon experiment partially validated mechanical interaction models referenced by ONERA and CNES researchers, while the dragsail deployment reduced orbital lifetime consistent with analyses from DLR and University of Surrey teams. Outcomes influenced policy dialogues at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and technical standards deliberations involving ISO working groups and informed proposals by commercial actors such as Airbus and ClearSpace SA.

Legacy and Impact

The program contributed empirical results cited in follow-on missions and proposals from organizations such as ESA, JAXA, NASA, and commercial vendors like SpaceX and Blue Origin exploring debris mitigation strategies. Findings were incorporated into academic curricula at institutions like Imperial College London, University of Surrey, and Delft University of Technology and informed regulatory discussions at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and national agencies, including the UK Space Agency. Technological lessons influenced succeeding demonstrators and commercial service concepts from entities such as ClearSpace SA, Astroscale, and consortiums led by Airbus Defence and Space and helped shape research agendas at centers including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ESA ESTEC, and DLR.

Category:Spacecraft