Harpoon Capture of Tumbling Space Debris

Active debris removal missions like ESA's RemoveDEBRIS have flight-tested harpoons as a way to snag an uncooperative, tumbling piece of space junk — a defunct satellite panel with no docking ring and no way to stabilise itself. This simulator models the two physical hurdles a harpoon shot has to clear: penetrating the target's plate under the Poncelet energy criterion, and then surviving the tether dynamics that follow. After impact, a spring-damper tether transfers angular momentum from the tumbling target back to the servicer, despinning it — but if the tension spikes past the line's rated breaking strength before that happens, the tether snaps and the target tumbles free again. Tune the launch speed, the target's spin rate and mass, and the tether's breaking strength to find a shot that actually holds.