Conceptual design for returning KITSAT-1

Abstract

The increasing number of orbiting satellites has motivated the development of active debris removal and on-orbit servicing missions. The KAIST Satellite Technology and Research Center plans to capture and de-orbit Korea’s first satellite, KITSAT-1, as one of the active debris removal missions. For the success of the project, mission planning for orbit transfer and rendezvous should be performed under consideration of the feasibility of required fuel. In this conceptual study, we designed a trajectory that could capture KITSAT-1 with a small satellite under 200 kg. The results was that the final relative RIC distance and the distance rate to KITSAT-1 are less than 0.01 km and 0.01 m/s order, and the required fuel mass was about 76 kg, which is feasible for a small capture satellite.