A Universal System to Deorbit Satellites at End of Life

Abstract - A 3-year Project financed by the European Commission is aimed at developing a universal system to de-orbit satellites at end of life, as fundamental contribution to limit the increase of debris in the Space environment. The operational system involves a conductive tape-tether left bare to establish anodic contact with the ambient plasma as giant Langmuir probe. The Project will size the three disparate dimensions of a tape for a selected de-orbit mission and determine scaling laws to allow system design for a general mission. Starting in the second year, mission selection is carried out while developing numerical codes to implement control laws on tether dynamics in/off the orbital plane;performing numerical simulations and plasma chamber measurements on tether-plasma interaction and completing design of subsystems: electron-ejecting plasma contactor, power module, interface elements, deployment mechanism, and tether tape/end-mass. This will be followed by subsystems manufacturing and by current collection, free-fall, and hypervelocity impact tests.