Vectoring Formation Flight
and Capture System
Junior Design Capstone Project
Background
● Debris Statistics
○ “Orbital debris are all man-made objects in orbit about the Earth which no longer
serve a useful purpose” - NASA
■ 21,000+ objects larger than 10 cm
■ 50,000+ objects between 1 and 10 cm
■ 100 million+ objects smaller than 1 cm
● Majority of debris is within 2,000 km of Earth’s surface
○ Greatest concentration between 750 – 800 km
Project Objectives
● To create an orbital debris removal bus system that can:
○ Locate, approach, and capture orbital space debris
○ Communicate with other bus systems for formation flight
● Software Design Requirements
○ Software integration of all subsystems
○ Development of control software/interface
○ Development of low level Artificial Intelligence (AI) for formation flight
● Designed for testing in a laboratory environment
Preliminary Design Model
Modular Slots
Communications
Array
Distance and Relative
Orientation Sensors
2D Thrust
Vectoring
System
Questions?
References
[1] http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faqs.html