Dynamical study of low Earth orbit debris collision avoidance using ground based laser

The objective of this paper was to investigate the orbital velocity changes due to the effect of ground based laser force. The resulting perturbations of semi-major axis, miss distance and collision probability of two approaching objects are studied. The analytical model is applied for low Earth orbit debris of different eccentricities and area to mass ratio and the numerical test shows that laser of medium power ∼5 kW can perform a small change ΔV‾ of an average magnitude of 0.2 cm/s which can be accumulated over time to be about 3 cm/day. Moreover, it is confirmed that applying laser ΔV‾ results in decreasing collision probability and increasing miss distance in order to avoid collision.