A CubeSat-sized servicer for Space Debris removal

The escalating population of space debris poses a significant threat to operational satellites. Among others, the removal of large non-operative satellites from their orbits emerges as a solution to mitigate the problem. For this purpose, a servicing spacecraft is required for the removal of these resident objects, necessitating an In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) mission. These missions typically involve large, complex spacecraft equipped with robotic arms, contributing to high economic costs that may outweigh the benefits for operators dealing with failed spacecraft. This study introduces an innovative approach to satellite removal. This work proposes leveraging on affordable and standardized CubeSat technology to perform simple servicing task. A 12U CubeSat equipped with a robotic arm is used to attach a deorbiting kit to a target satellite. It contains a drag augmentation device designed for de-orbiting Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. A mock-up of the proposed system has been developed to validate the proposed solution during a servicing manoeuvre performed on a low-friction table. A Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) algorithm has been developed to control the system during the autonomous servicing manoeuvre. Alongside presenting the system architecture, this work shows the preliminary results obtained from the test campaign.