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A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2024 | Viewed by 6387

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Dr. John Sinko

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics & Astronomy, St. Cloud State University, 720 4th Ave S., St. Cloud, MN 56301, USA
Interests: advanced propulsion; directed energy; laser ablation; laser-materials interactions; laser propulsion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Laser propulsion is an emerging field that promises breakthroughs for various unique propulsion needs if the special challenges of using lasers to produce impulses can be overcome. Some examples of such challenges include beam divergence, coupling to remote targets, heat accumulation, the physics of short-pulse laser-material interaction, and, broadly, the fundamental physics governing laser-material interactions, which is still incompletely understood.

Laser technology has advanced significantly in the past decade, with novel high-power lasers and the development of the science of massive laser arrays, which may support fielded laser propulsion missions and applications. Some examples of such applications include interplanetary propulsion, interstellar propulsion, laser thrusters, laser tractor beams, and laser removal of orbital debris.

This Special Issue of Aerospace will cover recent experimental, theoretical, and computational work on the use of lasers to produce thrust or impulse, focusing on the fundamental science of laser propulsion and related space technology applications.

The editor of this Special Issue invites papers describing chemical, engineering, physics, or other practical issues of laser propulsion science and technology.

Dr. John Sinko
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

beamed energy propulsion
debris removal
directed energy propulsion
laser ablation
laser arrays
laser debris removal
laser-electric propulsion
laser launch
laser momentum coupling
laser orbital debris removal
laser propellant
laser propulsion
laser sails
laser thermal coupling
laser thermal propulsion
laser thrusters
lightsails

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 5656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modification of Space Debris Trajectories through Lasers: Dependence of Thermal and Impulse Coupling on Material and Surface Properties

Denise Keil

Stefan Scharring

Erik Klein

Raoul-Amadeus Lorbeer

Mohamed Khalil Ben-Larbi

Carsten Wiedemann

Wolfgang Riede

and

Thomas Dekorsy

Aerospace 2023, 10(11), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10110947 - 07 Nov 2023

Viewed by 726

Abstract

Environmental pollution exists not only within our atmosphere but also in space. Space debris is a critical problem of modern and future space infrastructure. Congested orbits raise the question of spacecraft disposal. Therefore, state-of-the-art satellites come with a deorbit system in cases of low Earth orbit (LEO) and with thrusters for transferring into the graveyard orbit for geostationary and geosynchronous orbits. No practical solution is available for debris objects that stem from fragmentation events. The present study focuses on objects in LEO orbits with dimensions in the dangerous class of 1 to 10 cm. Our assumed method for the change of trajectories of space debris is laser ablation for collision avoidance or complete removal by ground-based laser systems. Thus, we executed an experimental feasibility study with focus on thermal and impulse coupling between laser and sample. Free-fall experiments with a 10 ns laser pulse at nominally 60 J and 1064 nm were conducted with GSI Darmstadt’s nhelix laser on various sample materials with different surfaces. Ablated mass, heating, and trajectory were recorded. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of the sample surface roughness on the laser-object interaction. We measured impulse coupling coefficients between 7 and 40 µNs/J and thermal coupling coefficients between 2% and 12.5% both depending on target fluence, surface roughness, and material. Ablated mass and changes in surface roughness were considered via simulation to discriminate their relevance for a multiple shot concept. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)

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13 pages, 5889 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Investigation on Morphological Characteristics and Propulsion Performance of Typical Metals Ablated with Multipulse Nanosecond Laser

and

Aerospace 2023, 10(8), 690; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10080690 - 03 Aug 2023

Viewed by 618

Abstract

For laser ablation micropropulsion technology with metal as the target to increase the total impulse, the effective utilization and supply of a working medium is a crucial aspect. In this research, the ablation characteristics and propulsion performance of the typical metal targets, copper and aluminum, ablated via nanosecond laser ablation are analyzed. Due to the low melting point of aluminum, the protrusion characteristics in the remelted area are more prominent. Its surface morphology has characteristics for height extremum and roughness that are higher than those of copper. Affected by the anisotropy of the rough surface, the absorbed energy decreases with increasing roughness. The impulse coupling coefficient of the metal decreases and stabilizes at about 6 μN·W⁻¹. The specific pulse of aluminum obtains a minimum value of 603.6 s at 6000 pulses and improves with increasing pulses. The propulsion parameters of copper alters slightly under various working conditions, with a maximum specific impulse of 685 s. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)

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20 pages, 5102 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can the Orbital Debris Disease Be Cured Using Lasers?

Stefan Scharring

and

Jürgen Kästel

Aerospace 2023, 10(7), 633; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10070633 - 13 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1417

Abstract

Ground-based high-power lasers are, in principle, able to de-orbit any kind of space debris object from the low Earth orbit (LEO) by remotely inducing laser-ablative momentum. However, the assessment of efficiency and operational safety depends on many factors, like atmospheric constraints or the risk of debris disintegration during irradiation. We analyze laser momentum for a great variety of target geometries and sizes and—for the first time in a large-scale simulation—include thermal constraints in the laser irradiation configuration. Using a coherently coupled 100 kJ laser system at 1030 nm wavelength and a 5 ns pulse duration in an optimized pointing elevation angle range, the pulse frequency should amount to less than 10 Hz to prevent fragment meltdown. For mechanically intact payloads or rocket bodies, repetition rates should be even lower. Small debris fragments sized between 10 and 40 cm can be de-orbited by employing around 100 to 400 station passes with head-on irradiation, while objects exceeding 2 m typically require far more than 1000 irradiations for de-orbit. Hence, laser-based debris removal cannot be considered a prime space sustainability measure to tackle the highest-risk large debris, yet it can provide the remediation of a multitude of small-sized debris using small networks of globally distributed laser sites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)

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10 pages, 3047 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Research on Characteristics of Impulse Coupling and Plasma Plume Generated by Laser Irradiating Copper Target with Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Propulsion

and

Aerospace 2023, 10(6), 544; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10060544 - 07 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 722

Abstract

The ejection of the plasma plume produced by laser ablation is an important process for inducing mechanical effects. Therefore, in this paper, the characteristics of the plasma plume are investigated in order to analyze the impulse coupling mechanism with two laser spot diameters, 300 μm and 1100 μm, respectively. The impulse generated by laser irradiating the copper target was measured by the torsion pendulum, and the plasma plume was investigated using fast photography and optical emission spectroscopy. The experimental results show that the optimal laser intensity is independent of the beam spot size. However, when the laser intensity is greater than 2.8 × 10⁹ W/cm², the impulse coupling coefficient with the small beam spot starts to gradually decrease, while that with the large beam spot tends to saturate. Additionally, the stream-like structure and the semi-ellipsoid structure of the plasma plume were observed, respectively. Furthermore, the electron number density was estimated using the Stark broadening method, and the effect of the plasma plume on the impulse coupling coefficient was discussed. The results provide a technical reference for several applications including orbital debris removal with lasers, laser thrusters, and laser despinning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)

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14 pages, 5870 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hugoniot Relation for a Bow-Shaped Detonation Wave Generated in RP Laser Propulsion

and

Aerospace 2023, 10(2), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10020102 - 19 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1061

Abstract

Repetitive-pulsed (RP) laser propulsion is expected to replace chemical propulsion systems because it can reduce launch costs. A laser-supported detonation wave (LSD) plays an important role in the thrust-generation process of RP laser propulsion. The LSD propagation mechanism has been studied. Nevertheless, the LSD propagation velocity measured in an earlier study was lower than the Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) velocity, which meant that Hugoniot analysis produced no solution. The findings suggest that the radial flow from the central axis of LSD exerts some effects, but it has not been evaluated quantitatively. Two-dimensional axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using the measured propagation velocity was performed for this study to evaluate effects of the radial flow of a bow-shaped LSD. Results show that the ratios of the radial flow of mass, momentum, and enthalpy from the central axis can be calculated, respectively, as 0.82, 0.13, and 0.17. Additionally, the measured propagation velocity of a bow-shaped LSD was shown to be higher than the CJ velocity calculated using the two-dimensional axisymmetric CFD reproducing the experiment conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)

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