Scaling laws of space debris removal in a single overhead pass by ground-based laser systems

A large amount of space debris is a serious problem that humanity will face, which may be solved by ground-based laser systems. In this paper, a calculation model of the space debris removal in a single overhead pass by ground-based laser systems is presented, in which the laser propagation through the inhomogeneous turbulent atmosphere, the momentum coupling of laser-debris interaction and the change of debris orbit are all taken into account. It is found that there exists an optimal initial zenith angle θ 0-opt and an optimal initial slant angle φ 0-opt of orbital spindle to reduce the pulse energy, and the scaling laws of θ 0-opt and φ 0-opt are obtained. The critical pulse energy E cr is very important for the space-debris removal by ground-based laser systems, which is defined as the minimum of a single pulse energy required to remove the space debris in a single overhead pass. The scaling law of E cr is also obtained, which provide a quantitative criterion of ground-based laser pulse energy for the space debris removal in a single overhead pass. The results obtained in this paper are very useful for the application of the ground-based laser space-debris removal.