Laser-based space debris removal: design guidelines for coherent coupling power transmission

Kurzfassung

Space debris presents an increasing threat to the lifetime of commercial and military space assets. Laser-based space debris removal systems could potentially mitigate this threat by targeting debris objects in the cm-range. In order to reach this goal a minimum fluence of a few J/cm² on the debris object and a pulse repetition rate of several 10 Hz are necessary. These requirements can be met by coupling 1000-2000 independent 10 J laser sources coherently and employing a sending telescope with a diameter of 5 m. We analyze which parameters are critical to the effectiveness of the transmission system and deduce design guidelines. In particular the effects of non-optimum filling factors, secondary mirror size, emitter intensity distribution and phase jitter of the individual emitters are discussed and compared.