Assessing Bioinspired Concepts for Space Debris Removal and Evaluating their Feasibility for simple Demonstrator Design

The ESA-funded project BIOINSPACED intends to find biomimetic solutions for new technologies that can contribute to ESA's 'Clean Space' initiative by mitigating space debris. Analyzing existing biomimetic examples and screening nature's idea pool helps defining new bio-inspired solutions that have the potential to fulfil the technical requirements related to an active debris removal mission. This paper will expand the current state of the art of active debris removal by describing a newly developed catalogue of 130 collected concepts with potential for future debris removal missions. A feasibility analysis was conducted, evaluating and subsequently enabling clustering and ranking of different concepts regarding their functionality and applicability. The ten most promising principles are presented in this study, and will be used to conceptualize holistic debris removal scenarios and manufacture one simple demonstrator during the next phase of the project, harvesting and illustrating their biomimetic potential for innovative solutions.