Nebula Public Library

The use of helicon sources as thrusters for space propulsion has been envisaged as a robust, scalable, reliable and long-life device. The Helicon Plasma Thruster (HPT) is presented as a potentially durable, throttlable and high thrust-to-power ratio device, with intermediate specific impulse and competitive thrust efficiency.

The COBRA (COntactless deBRis Action) concept was studied under ESA contract and then internally by ESA, as part of ESA ́s SysNova technology assessment scheme which uses “technology challenges” and competitions to survey a comparatively large number of alternative solutions. The concept was originally proposed by an industrial consortium led by GMV form Spain with Politecnico di Milano and Thales Alenia Space from Italy. The concept came first in response to a challenge for mission concepts and technologies capable of providing a contactless Earth-bound object orbit modification system.

In recent years the concern about the future exploitation of space has been growing due to the risk that uncontrolled space debris poses to the space environment and therefore to the survivability of operational spacecraft. Two main regions of concern exist, GEO, where most of the commercial telecommunications satellites orbit, and LEO, where many scientific missions observing the Earth fly. Of special concern is the sun synchronous orbit, a natural resource of special interest for Earth sciences.

KABOOM
We study a low-cost interplanetary mission to demonstrate the capability of artificially modifying the orbit of a small (250 ton) binary asteroid body. The targeting spacecraft survives the slow (~1 m/s) impact to carry out the orbit modification measurement afterwards.
Methodology: