Space debris manoeuvre with adaptive optics using a ground-based telescope

Abstract

To mitigate the risk of collisions of space debris in orbit, collision prevention measures need to be taken. The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University (ANU) has been developing adaptive optics systems for space situational awareness for several years. In 2014, the ANU became a research partner in the cooperative research centre for Space Environment Management, managed by the Space Environment Research Centre (SERC). One of the objectives of this cooperative research centre is to develop an active ground-based space debris manoeuvre system that is capable of altering the orbits of high-area-to-mass-ratio debris objects by means of photon pressure. A laser will be fed through a ground-based telescope run by another SERC partner, EOS Space Systems, at Mt Stromlo, Australia and will be focused onto the object in space. When the laser light impacts with the debris object, momentum is transferred to the debris object by reflection and absorptions of photons. To compensate for the distortions caused by the atmosphere, an adaptive optics system is currently being developed by the ANU. It will measure the atmospheric turbulence with the help of the return flux from a Sodium laser guide star and simultaneously precondition the laser beam prior to the launch from the telescope. As in conventional adaptive optics systems, a closed loop system applies a wavefront correction based on measurements of the abberated wavefronts. Additionally, the system has to work particularly fast to be able to measure and compensate for atmospheric turbulence while tracking an object in lower Earth orbits. Due to the short tracking time for objects in these orbits, the adaptive optics system needs to be able acquire the target and close the loop quite fast while at the same time communicating and coordinating with the guide star laser, the debris pushing laser and the telescope. In this paper, we discuss Adaptive Optics system’s functional and operational architecture in detail. Show more