Title

DE-STARLITE: A Directed Energy Planetary Defense Mission

Author Info

Kelly Kosmo, University of California - Santa Barbara
Mark Pryor, Vorticy Inc.
Philip Lubin, University of California - Santa Barbara
Gary B. Hughes, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis ObispoFollow
Hugh O'Neill, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Peter Meinhold, University of California - Santa Barbara
Jonathan Suen, University of California - Santa Barbara
Jordan Riley, University of California - Santa Barbara
Janelle Griswold, University of California - Santa Barbara
Brianna Vail Cook, University of California - Santa Barbara
Isabella E. Johansson, University of California - Santa Barbara
Qicheng Zhang, University of California - Santa Barbara
Kevin Walsh, Southwest Research Institute
Carl Melis, University of California - San Diego
Miikka Kangas, University of California - Santa Barbara
J Bible, University of California - Santa Barbara
Caio Motta, University of California - Santa Barbara
Travis Brashears, University of California - Santa Barbara
Shana Mathew, University of California - Santa Barbara
Justin Bollag, University of California - Santa Barbara

Recommended Citation

Published in SPIE Proceedings: San Diego, CA, Volume 9226, August 17, 2014.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2059959.

Abstract

This paper presents the motivation behind and design of a directed energy planetary defense system that utilizes laser ablation of an asteroid to impart a deflecting force on the target. The proposed system is called DE-STARLITE for Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and ExploRation – LITE as it is a small, stand-on unit of a larger standoff DE-STAR system. Pursuant to the stand-on design, ion engines will propel the spacecraft from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to the near-Earth asteroid (NEA). During laser ablation, the asteroid itself becomes the "propellant"; thus a very modest spacecraft can deflect an asteroid much larger than would be possible with a system of similar mission mass using ion beam deflection (IBD) or a gravity tractor. DE-STARLITE is capable of deflecting an Apophis-class (325 m diameter) asteroid with a 15-year targeting time. The mission fits within the rough mission parameters of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) program in terms of mass and size and has much greater capability for planetary defense than current proposals and is readily scalable to the threat. It can deflect all known threats with sufficient warning.

Disciplines

Statistics and Probability

Copyright

2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Publisher statement

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