Laser Ablation Debris Deorbit
Interactive 3D simulator of ground-based laser ablation debris removal: a pulsed laser vaporizes the surface of an orbiting fragment at apogee, the recoil thrust lowers perigee pass after pass until the debris re-enters the atmosphere.
A single tracked fragment orbits Earth in this simulator while a ground-based ablation laser fires on it every time it crosses apogee, exactly as proposed "laser broom" active-debris-removal concepts work: each pulse train vaporizes a sliver of the surface, and the recoiling plume delivers a small retrograde impulse. Because the burn always lands at the orbit's highest point, apogee stays almost fixed while perigee is driven steadily lower, pass after pass, until it dips into the atmosphere and the fragment re-enters. Adjust laser power, the ablation momentum-coupling coefficient, the tracking dwell time per pass, and the fragment's mass to see how each one changes the impulse budget and the number of passes needed to clear a piece of orbital debris.
A ground-based ablation laser fires on an orbiting debris fragment every time it crosses apogee, each pulse train delivering a small retrograde impulse that lowers perigee pass after pass until the fragment re-enters the atmosphere.
3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install