Optimal Active Debris Removal Mission Design Using Low-thrust Trajectory

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology to design/optimize an active debris removal (ADR) mission using the low-thrust trajectory. The proposed methodology applies the Q law guidance to solve multiple-debris removal mission design, producing near-optimal solutions in a flexible/robust way. We further discuss a strategy to reduce the solution search space and an algorithm to generate a feasible rendezvous solution using the Q law guidance. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.