The latest results of the CRADLE Project were presented at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), held in Dubai between the 25th and 29th of October 2021. The IAC is one of the most important events of the year for the space community. Space enthusiasts from all over the world gather together for an intense week of technical presentation, inspiring lectures, and networking. Thousands of contributions, from astrodynamics to space law, from space medicine to space physics, contribute to making the IAC week unforgettable.
With the CRADLE Project, we presented in the prestigious Astrodynamics Symposium, in the Session of Orbital Dynamics. The talk focused on the feasibility analysis and target selection for in-orbit particle collection missions. We analysed the contribution of the asteroid size, density, material type and strength, identifying suitable candidates for the mission. We also verified that the risk from ejecta impacts is minimal. Therefore, we confirmed the mission feasibility and identified target asteroids among NEAs (Near-Earth Asteroids).
Check out the details of the analysis and the latest development of the project HERE.
Interested? Check out other contributions!
At the 72nd IAC, I also contributed to other research related to Space Environment Sustainability and Space Debris. If you would like to discover more you can check the following contributions:
- Analysis of possible definitions of the space environment capacity to pursue long-term sustainability of space activities by Valeria Trozzi. If we look at the space as a finite resource, we must find a sustainable way to allocate it. In this contribution, we analyse the sustainability of the space environment and how it can be maintained using the concept of capacity.
- CubeSat Mission Concept for Environmental Analysis in Low Earth Orbit, by Marco Paolo Brenna. In this contribution, we show the preliminary mission design of the e.Cube mission. The COMPASS Team of Politecnico di Milano proposed this mission to improve the state-of-the-art of mitigation and remediation measures for the space debris environment. Check out the mission profile and the experiments of the e.Cube mission using the link above!