ICAN: A novel laser architecture for space debris removal

• ICAN: diode-pumped, fiber-based laser system with high efficiency and average power.
• Conceptual design of solar power orbiting debris removal system.
• Tracking and removal of debris over distances >100 km in LEO orbit.
• Removal of small 1–10 cm space debris in single encounter.
• Greater than 1000 debris removed per year.

The development of a fiber based laser architecture will enable novel applications in environments which have hitherto been impossible due to size, efficiency and power of traditional systems. Such a new architecture has been developed by the International Coherent Amplification Network (ICAN) project. Here we present an analysis of utilizing an ICAN laser for the purpose of tracking and de-orbiting hyper-velocity space debris. With an increasing number of new debris from collisions of active, derelict and new payloads in orbit, there is a growing danger of runaway debris impacts. Due to its compactness and efficiency, it is shown that space-based operation would be possible. For different design parameters such as fiber array size, it is shown that the kHz repetition rate and kW average power of ICAN would be sufficient to de-orbit small 1–10 cm debris within a single instance via laser ablation.