Active detumbling technology for high dynamic non-cooperative space targets

High dynamic non-cooperative space targets generally perform complex motions with large angular velocities, so capturing these targets directly may cause fracture damage to the space manipulator. It is a feasible strategy for this case to reduce the angular velocity of the target to an acceptable range in the pre-capture phase. In this paper, an effective method for detumbling the high dynamic non-cooperative space target is proposed, where the tumbling target spins down under the action of external torque generated by the contact impact. The dynamic model of the detumbling system is established by the Jourdain’s velocity variation principle, and the contact model is built based on the Hertz contact theory and the kinematic and geometric relations between the space target and despin device. The simulation results show that the proposed method can synchronously reduce the angular velocities of the space target in all three body axes.