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ORION: Clearing near-Earth space debris using a 20-kW, 530-nm, Earth-based, repetitively pulsed laser

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2009

C.R. Phipps ,
G. Albrecht ,
H. Friedman ,
D. Gavel ,
E.V. George ,
J. Murray ,
C. Ho ,
W. Priedhorsky ,
M.M. Michaelis  and
J.P. Reilly
C.R. Phipps
Affiliation:
Advanced Optical Systems Development Group, Mail Stop E543, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
G. Albrecht
Affiliation:
Advanced Applications Group, Mail Stop L488, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
H. Friedman
Affiliation:
Advanced Applications Group, Mail Stop L488, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
D. Gavel
Affiliation:
Advanced Applications Group, Mail Stop L488, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
E.V. George
Affiliation:
Advanced Applications Group, Mail Stop L488, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
J. Murray
Affiliation:
Advanced Applications Group, Mail Stop L488, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
C. Ho
Affiliation:
Astrophysics and Radiation Measurements Group, Mail Stop D-436, Los Alamos, National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
W. Priedhorsky
Affiliation:
Astrophysics and Radiation Measurements Group, Mail Stop D-436, Los Alamos, National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
M.M. Michaelis
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
J.P. Reilly
Affiliation:
Northeast Science and Technology Inc., 117 Northshore Blvd., East Sandwich, MA 02537, USA
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Abstract

When a large piece of space debris forced a change of flight plan for arecent U.S. Space Shuttle mission, the concept that we are trashing space as well as Earth finally attained broad public awareness. Almost a million pieces of debris have been generated by 35 years of spaceflight, and now threaten long-term space missions. The most economical solution to this problem is to cause space debris items to reenter and burn up in the atmosphere. For safe handling of large objects, it is desired to do this on a precomputed trajectory. Due to the number, speed, and spacial distribution of the objects, a highly agile source of mechanical impulse, as well as a quantum leap in detection capability are required. For reasons we will discuss, we believe that the best means of accomplishing these goals is the system we propose here, which uses a ground-based laser system and active beam phase error correcting beam director to provide the impulse, together with a new, computer-intensive, very high-resolution optical detection system to locate objects as small as 1 cm at 500-km range. Illumination of the objects by the repetitively pulsed laser produces a laser-ablation jet that gives the impulse to de-orbit the object. A laser of just 20-kW average power and state-of-the-art detection capabilities could clear near-Earth space below 100-km altitude of all space debris larger than 1 cm but less massive than 100 kg in about 4 years, and all debris in the threatening 1–20-cm size range in about 2 years of continuous operation. The ORION laser would be sited near the Equator at a high altitude location (e.g., the Uhuru site on Kilimanjaro), minimizing turbulence correction, conversion by stimulated Raman scattering, and absorption of the 530-nm wavelength laser beam. ORION is a special case of Laser Impulse Space Propulsion (LISP), studied extensively by Los Alamos and others over the past 4 years.

Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 1996 , pp. 1 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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