The paper considers a tow truck spacecraft designed for active removal of a group of large space debris from the vicinity of geostationary orbit. It proposes simplified analytical formulae to evaluate the masses of spacecraft main subsystems depending on the type of propulsion used. The spacecraft should satisfy existing limitations to the available launch vehicles. The paper shows that a spacecraft equipped with electric propulsion is able to perform a mission of removing thirty spent upper stages. In case of chemical propulsion, a significantly lower development costs can be achieved, but the spacecraft is able to remove only half of the considered debris group. On the one hand, two spacecraft yield more expensive launch costs; but on the other hand, each of them is simpler, more reliable and cost-effective. At the same time, if operating in parallel, two spacecraft are more efficient in the geostationary orbit clean-up process. Further research should be focused on the analysis of technical and economic indicators typical for the two propulsion options considered in the paper.

EDN BBLGGY