◈ MISSION BRIEFING · SW-SIM-001 · South Star PROX-M18 — a Space Waste program
A derelict satellite is tumbling in LEO. Your PROX-M18 servicing vehicle starts 150 m out. There is no air, no brakes, and no friction — every thrust keeps pushing you forever until you cancel it. This is real orbital proximity ops: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
FLIGHT HERITAGE
Approach rules adapted from DARPA Orbital Express (2007) — the first
autonomous US satellite-to-satellite docking and servicing demonstration — and the NASA GN&C
lessons-learned report that followed (Dennehy & Carpenter, NTRS 2011). The closure-rate
discipline you're about to practice is the discipline OE proved.