Active debris removal employing a robotic arm equipped CubeSat

Space debris pose significant risks to functioning satellites. To mitigate the issue, the space sector is studying new technologies for Active Debris Removal (ADR) missions. Conventional methods rely on large and complex satellites equipped with robotic arms but the high economic cost of these may outweigh the benefit related with the debris removal. This paper proposes a novel, cost-effective approach. A 12U CubeSat equipped with a robotic arm is employed to attach an Elementary Servicing Unit (ESU) to target satellites. The CubeSat integrates essential subsystems such as power management, an Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS), a mono-ocular camera for navigation, and a four-degrees-of-freedom robotic arm. To study the feasibility of the mission, a simulator in the MATLAB/Simulink environment has been developed together with a guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system. In addition, a mock-up of the proposed CubeSat has been developed for testing a simple manoeuvre in relevant laboratory environment to attach the ESU to a target. The preliminary results obtained from the simulation and the design of the CubeSat mock-up are presented in the paper.