Colloquium: Yannick Heumassej (Space Flight)

This thesis proposes the novel concept of recycling space debris as a means of supplying material resources for the establishment of a permanent Lunar presence while simultaneously cleaning up Earth's orbital environment. Upon the creation of a space debris database, defunct Ariane 5 upper stages in GTO are identified as prime candidates for recycling. However, orbital transfer alignment poses a critical challenge due to orbit perturbations over time. Mission scenarios, including debris capture, transfer and Lunar processing, are analyzed, with global mission energy expenditure used to compare them to direct material delivery missions. Both chemical and electric propulsion transfer architectures are highlighted as enabling feasible and efficient recycling, with potential energy savings of up to 30% per kg of material. The inclusion of rideshare configurations increases efficiency to over 60% less energy investment per kg. Additionally, continuous missions returning multiple upper stages show potential for even greater efficiencies.

Supervisor: Angelo Cervone