RemoveDEBRIS: An in-orbit demonstration of technologies for the removal of space debris

Abstract

The RemoveDEBRIS mission has been the first mission to successfully demonstrate, in-orbit, a series of technologies that can be used for the active removal of space debris. The mission started late in 2014 and was sponsored by a grant from the EC that saw a consortium led by the Surrey Space Centre to develop the mission, from concept to in-orbit demonstrations, that terminated in March 2019. Technologies for the capture of large space debris, like a net and a harpoon, have been successfully tested together with hardware and software to retrieve data on non-cooperative target debris kinematics from observations carried out with on board cameras. The final demonstration consisted of the deployment of a drag-sail to increase the drag of the satellite to accelerate its demise.