OBJECTIVES:
Solving the space debris problem with a positive solution, recycling and manufacturing; done with the premise that it cascades into a more adaptable and sustainable global community. The hope is that this project helps develop and deploy recycling and reuse technologies with the potential for commercialization in a terrestrial setting.
Codification:
NASA Classification: Space Operations Directorate.
Agency: SSPD Satellite Servicing Projects Division.
Oversight: IADC Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee.
Type: Orbital Infrastructure.
2020 Space Policy Directive 3: Space Situational Awareness and Traffic Management.
This project continues NASA’s current OSAM (Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) initiative. It is also a continuation of NASA’s FABLAB. Consequently, this proposal is an ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) project.
Overview:
The proposal covers the entire scope of space recycling. The first project is a stand-alone unmanned robotic drydock to handle satellite repair, servicing, disassembly, construction, preliminary sorting, and cataloging space debris. The industrial elements will fly in subsequent launches, which open the door for space recycling and manufacturing. In addition to the station, there are specifications for a fleet of spaceships specialized in capturing and moving space junk.
Earth Policy in Space: Yspace is dedicated to doing in space what we aim to do here on Earth. Protect the environment against climate change and reduce waste while continuing to mature and survive as a global community. We are taking reusability and sustainability to a whole new level. Space…The final frontier for recycling.
The research in this project will benefit many terrestrial industries and help stimulate green technologies with a strong focus on recycling. These developments would reinvigorate local manufacturing sectors, create jobs, create economic resilience, reduce waste for raw materials and manufactured goods, and reduce the need for international shipping.
Dangers of Space Junk: There are 750,000 pieces of space junk currently tracked. Around 20,000 of those objects are more than 10cm long. Contrary to popular belief, things naturally deorbit as there is some atmospheric drag. The further you go into space, the lower the particle density of the atmosphere and the more time objects take to fall back to the planet. Some objects in low Earth orbit will de-orbit within 20 years; however, most LEO objects take closer to 60. Everything in space is traveling extremely fast. The lower an object’s orbit, the faster it moves. For instance, the ISS moves at 28000 km per hour, and the Hubble moves at 27300 km per hour in a slightly higher orbit. Collisions at speeds this fast are catastrophic. A pin can strike with the force of a stick of dynamite. Every collision creates the possibility of several more collisions. According to astrophysicist and former NASA scientist Donald Kessler, If we reach a critical mass of space junk, the collisions can rapidly cascade, potentially destroying most active satellites and everything else in low Earth orbit within a short timeframe.
Capturing Space Debris: There are specifications for every existing servicing or deorbiting spacecraft in this proposal, and plans for several more craft designed for specific roles. Some are designed to move large rocket boosters efficiently. One type of salvage spacecraft is built on-site. There are also current and future construction vehicles, some ideas for small debris collection, and other miscellaneous spacecraft.
Northrop Grumman’s MEV (Mission Extension Vehicle) is the first and most likely candidate for salvage operations. It is currently the only operational service vehicle. It has been tested and used in space on a few missions and works for this project. Its limited design is built for one purpose. It moves a satellite from one position to another position. However, we have provided a wide array of potential spacecraft options for any situation.
Many of the salvage spacecraft mentioned in this proposal, including the MEV, use multi-directional ion thrusters, sometimes with a gimbal of 180 degrees. The multi-directionality of the thrusters removes the need for traditional mono-propellants for relative proximity operations (RPO). The thrusters use noble gases such as Xenon and Krypton for fuel instead of the more traditional hypergolic fuels. While Ion thrusters have a low thrust value, their specific impulse allows for a five to ten times greater fuel efficiency. Otherwise, the refuel launch cost based on the rocket equation would make salvage operations economically unfeasible.
The space station design and launch plan are broken into two parts: The first element is the robotics servicing bay which can operate stand-alone. The second part of the plan focuses on the industrial elements of the station.
The Station:
The plan is to build the robotics bay from a salvaged rocket booster, preferably a Saturn 5 or IB second stage. This “Drylab” ”Drydock” concept allows maximum workspace without a heavy and potentially unwieldy launch. The plan is based on the early concepts of Skylab from Werner Von Braun, where a Saturn 5 rocket booster was to be converted into a human-occupied “wetlab.” There is now an alternate plan to orbit the drydock with a heavy-lift rocket now that they exist again.
The servicing module features a bay door as seen on the space shuttle, a robotic arm for moving salvage into the work bay, and robotic workers such as JAXA’s GITAI or Boston Dynamics Atlas. These right-stuff robots are equipped with several specialized workstations. There is a workstation for cataloging inventory, a testing station, one for working with hazardous materials, one for cleaning paint and coatings removal, another for working with small things such as electronics, a heavy workstation, A finishing station, and standard assembly and disassembly workstations.
Powder, parts, and materials are transported around the station using pneumatic tubes and pods. The pods are also used for storage. There are several advantages to this sort of system. It is easy to maintain, fast, reliable, and makes inventory easy to track.
The second part of the proposal focuses on the more industrial elements of the station, such as the recycling and manufacturing facility. This facility can sort, grind, and smelt materials into powder feedstock for the additive manufacturing process using a 3D printer.
The current station specifications aim to reclaim or recycle 0.86 tons of materials in space per day. Standard facilities on Earth recycle as much as 33,000 tons of material daily. We are hoping to make a much more compact system. Some components could be blender-sized, toaster oven-sized, or Peppermill-sized with room to expand in the future. 0.86 tons would give a 100% or more return on investment within 20 years based on the cost per kilogram to launch.
There are three types of recycling processes. Chemical, thermal, and mechanical. This project excludes the chemical process as it would be cost-prohibitive unless a closed-loop chemical cleaning process is worked out. It uses the thermal process sparingly, as there is no convection cooling in a vacuum. Instead, it focuses on the mechanical process. Aluminum and Polymer (Plastic) are the cornerstones of our manufacturing process. Aluminum and high quality plastics can be recycled using a strictly mechanical process involving shredding. The basic idea is to grind down materials into powder and then use the powder as feedstock for a 3D-printed additive manufacturing process.
The Recycling Process: robotics bay: scan → clean → index → disassemble → sort.
Recycling plant: shred → sort again → smelt → fine grind → manufacture.
What are we manufacturing?
We want to make specific components and spacecraft for servicing and recycling on-site and things we use in the process, including the ve transport pods, the in-house retrieval spacecraft, CubeSats, and other simple satellites. We can build bigger and more complex things as we get better at the process. Eventually, we will also be able to make advanced parts and materials for use back on earth, such as semiconductors.
Where In Space: Most space junk is located in low Earth, sun-synchronous, counter-clockwise polar orbit. The station should be positioned to run capture and salvage operations with the least fuel expended. Initial simulations put the optimal position in a circular orbit somewhere near 85 degrees inclination with a 750km apogee and perigee. Alternatively, if this project is built in conjunction with the decommissioning of the ISS, it would be launched into an easy-to-reach equatorial orbit at around 500 km.
Finances: The current estimate for the total cost of this project is around 29.6 billion dollars USD, plus or minus 50% based mostly on Human resources, over 20-year development and service time. We plan to outsource to nearly 70 aerospace companies and employ around 5504 people. Other than the basic idea of profiting from recycling one ton of material per day, there are several other potential sources of revenue, such as servicing, insurance, disposal contracts, and technology outsourcing.
Conclusion: This proposal covers the full spectrum of a space recycling and manufacturing process. Parts are unfinished or lack enough specific detail. It provides unique and innovative solutions.