US Patent 12017803 System and method for debris capture

A method for capturing and deorbiting space debris includes: deploying a space debris capturing device in planetary orbit; receiving an initial target set including a first database of space debris targets that are within range of the space debris capturing device; performing a first algorithm to convert the initial target set to an accessible target set including a second database of space debris targets that are within range of the space debris capturing device; performing a second algorithm to convert the accessible target set to a final target set including a third database of space debris targets to be captured by the space debris capturing device capturing the first space debris target via a capture mechanism of the space debris capturing device; jettisoning the capture mechanism and the first captured space debris target into a decaying orbit; one of the remaining space debris targets of the third database; and positioning the space debris capturing device and the final captured space debris target into a decaying orbit.