Natural Quasi-Rendezvous and Evasive Maneuvers assisted by Atmospheric Drag

Abstract

The study of evasive maneuvers of spacecraft in the face of the danger of collision with space debris is essential and important today due to the growth of missions at low altitudes (LEO). Bodies that orbit this region are affected by the Earth's drag force. In this work, we present the results of numerical simulations for collision dynamics between spatial objects (operational vehicle and space debris) and investigate evasive maneuvers of the vehicle under the possibility of collision with a debris in atmospheric drag environment. We tested the evasive maneuvers for collision conditions in this environment using the exhaust velocity of the vehicle's propulsion system. We find three important results: 1) evasive maneuvers are possible and the atmospheric drag can contribute to the removal of the collision objects in small and medium intervals of time; 2) for very small initial velocities, there are natural quasi-Rendezvous, under the action of gravity alone and drag; 3) propulsion in conjunction with drag can enable evasive maneuvers for various spatial debris sizes.