Remediation of cm-size space debris from the International Space Station

We present here a plan in 3 steps to design an orbiting debris remediation system comprised of a super-wide field-of-view telescope and a novel laser system operating from the International Space Station (ISS). The EUSO (Extreme Universe Space Observatory) telescope has been designed for operation onboard the ISS for the detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Equipped with 2.5 m optics and a field of view of plus or minus 30 degrees, the EUSO module can also be utilized for the detection of high velocity fragmentation debris in orbit near the ISS. Once detected, the CAN laser system will deliver a sequence of pulses to the debris surface inducing ablation and hence momentum impulse to reduce its velocity. The range of the detection/removal operation can be as large as 100 km. We will use a step by step approach employing ISS : 1) Proof of principle demonstration of the detection (and, if possible, laser impulse technology) with ISS based small prototype 2) Technical demonstrator debris removal that consists of the EUSO telescope for the detection and a 1.5 m Cassegrain telescope with a space CAN laser for tracking and impulse delivery for debris re-entry, and 3) A free-flyer mission dedicated to debris remediation in a polar orbit with the altitude approximately 800 km.