Deployment dynamics of tethered-net for space debris removal

A tethered-net is a promising method for space debris capturing. However, its deployment dynamics is complex because of the flexibility, and its dependency of the deployment parameters is insufficiently understood. To investigate the deployment dynamics of tethered-net, four critical deployment parameters, namely maximum net area, deployment time, traveling distance and effective period are identified in this paper, and the influence of initial deployment conditions on these four parameters is investigated. Besides, a comprehensive study on a model for the tethered-net based on absolute nodal coordinates formulation (ANCF) is provided. Simulations show that the results based on the ANCF modeling method present a good agreement with that based on the conventional mass–spring modeling method. Moreover, ANCF model is capable of describing the flexibility between two nodes on the net. However, it is more computationally expensive.