Designing a space debris removal mission targeting a Cosmos 3M rocket body in leo using a chemical engine and an elechtrodynamic tether to perform the de-orbiting

Definition of the target

Figure - Types of rocket bodies in the critical region

As it can be seen in the Figure , the Russian Kosmos 3M rocket bodies are the perfect candidate for our research due to the large number of bodies in orbit. Figure illustrated the spatial distribution of Kosmos 3M 2^nd stage rocket bodies around the globe. The image was taken using the Google Earth program combined with information from the U.S. Space Track catalog and the UCS Satellite Database

Figure - Spatial distribution of Kosmos 3M rocket body in LEO

The STK software and Space Track database were used to define the low Earth orbit environment according to spatial distribution of Kosmos 3M rocket bodies, as outlined in Figure .

Figure - Spatial distribution and orbits of Kosmos 3M rocket body in LEO

Orbits of 156 rocket bodies are illustrated in Figure with boundaries set at a perigee of 800 km and 1000 km. Only 15 rocket bodies are on an inclination between 0° and 80° (light blue on the figure). On the other hand, for the band of interest (80°-100°), 141 rocket bodies were listed (blue on the figure). The majority of these objects are at an inclination of around 80°.

Of all the bodies available, one was arbitrarily chosen as the target of the mission. This body is only chosen to define a representative mission and may change based on future studies. According to the US Space Track catalog, the rocket body is classified as SL-8 R/B 32053. The orbital parameters of this object are summarized in Figure and Figure .

Figure - Orbital parameters of the SL-8 R/B 32053 object

Kosmos 3M

Kosmos 3M is 2.4 meters in diameter, 32.4 meters tall, and weighs 109 tons at liftoff. Its first stage is powered by a 151.5 ton sea level thrust (178 ton vacuum thrust) Energomash RD-216 engine composed of two dual-thrust chamber RD-215 engines. Four graphite vanes extend into the exhaust of the four fixed thrust chambers to provide steering.

The first R-14-derived launch vehicles (Kosmos 1 or 65S3) flew from Baikonur Area 41 Pad 15 beginning in 1964. The upgraded developmental Kosmos 3 (11K65) version began launching from the same site in 1966. One year later, the operational Kosmos 3M (11K65M) variant began flying from Plesetsk Northern Cosmosdrome. Baikonur developmental launches ended in 1968, but Kapustin Yar began hosting Kosmos 3M launches in 1973. By 1977, Kosmos 3M had entirely replaced the smaller R-12-based Kosmos 2 launch vehicle.

Kosmos 3M launched Tselina-O electronic intelligence satellites, Strela 1M, 2M and Tsyklon military navigation and communications vehicles, Taifun-1 and 2 radar calibration spacecraft, anti-satellite weapon targets, and Tsikada navigation satellites into orbit. Orbital and suborbital R-14 launches boosted BOR space plane tests during the 1980s for the Soviet space shuttle development effort. Other suborbital R-14 missions were performed for the "Vertikal" scientific research program during the 1970s and 1980s. The United Start consortium has marketed Kosmos 3M for commercial missions since the 1990s.

Kosmos 3M ranks third among world space launchers with nearly 450 orbital attempts, trailing only R-7 and Thor/Delta. From a peak of 29 launches in 1977, the Kosmos 3M flight rate has declined to an average of 2-3 per year since the mid-1990s. Launch vehicle production in Omsk was stopped in 1995, but production capability was retained. Stockpiled rockets have reportedly performed subsequent launches. Kosmos 3M is the only launch vehicle to have operated from all three of the former Soviet launch sites at Baikonur, Plesetsk, and Kapustin Yar. Kosmos 3M is integrated with its payload in a processing building and transported horizontally to its launch pad on a railroad carrier. The rocket and its carrier are erected at the pad about two days before launch. The Kosmos 3M vehicle was last launched in 2010, with a total of about 442 launches. (wikipedia)

Figure : Installation of Kosmos 3M on the launch pad

Figure : Kosmos 3M in Omsk

Kosmos 3M’s de-orbiting removal justification

Considering the size and mass of a Kosmos 3M 2^nd stage and the mean value of the orbital parameters seen previously, the orbit of a typical Kosmos 3M 2^nd stage was modeled in STK, as illustrated in Figure .

Altitude: 900km; Inclination: 80°; Propagator: J2M

Figure : STK model of a typical Kosmos 3M second stage orbit

A lifetime analysis was carried out (Figure ) and the result was that Kosmos 3M can’t decay automatically (limit at 64km) before 25 years, which is a requirement by UN COPUS space debris regulations. Actually, its orbital altitude only decays to 70km in 100 years, limit imposed for the STK simulation.

Figure - Limit of decay for the object

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