Comparison of technologies for deorbiting spacecraft from low-earth-orbit at end of mission

Sánchez‐Arriaga, G.; Sanmartin, J. R.; Lorenzini, Enrico

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2016.12.004

Cited by 33 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Many studies provide a good technical review of ADR proposals [67], [72]- [75]. However, without going in the technical details of the ADR proposals, the bottom line is that despite all of the discussion and research on ADR, until now, not even a single debris item has been removed from orbit.…”

Section: B Active Debris Removal (Adr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Orbital Debris Threat for Space Sustainability and Way Forward (Review Article)

Murtaza

Pirzada

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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Over the past 60 years, satellite technology has demonstrated its usefulness successfully. However, this usefulness is at stake from a future point of view, due to the well-admitted orbital/space debris threat. This article thoroughly reviews all aspects of space debris issue including causes, amount and sizes of orbital debris, potential threats, counter-strategies with their latest status and related legal issues to highlight the criticality and urgency of the problem. This review elaborates the fact that despite all the worries and threats, the efforts to confront this challenge are considerably insufficient until today. This bitter reality demands for at-least curtailing the number of future launches to ensure the long-term sustainability of space, until the improvement in debris situation. However, contradictory to this necessity, large satellite constellations have been proposed that can drastically increase the existing orbital population in coming years. This approach will certainly not help in improving the space environment in the future; instead, it can worsen the space environment situation as recent studies shows. Also, space resources (i.e. orbital slots and frequencies) are limited to accommodate many more satellite projects from commercial and government organization in the future. So, there is a serious question of how the space industry can move forward to maintain a balance in controlling the future number of the satellite while accommodating many commercial or government space entities. This article also identifies two optimized approaches as a way forward for future satellite projects that can also enhance the effectiveness of space technology in the future.

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Section: B Active Debris Removal (Adr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Orbital Debris Threat for Space Sustainability and Way Forward (Review Article)

Murtaza

Pirzada

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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“…At present, the following de-orbiting methods are used and developed to reduce the clogged near-Earth space [6][7][8][9][10][11]:…”

Section: Literature Review and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite such a variety of methods for clearing the low orbits from debris, the most common of them for large-sized SOs, such as the launch vehicle orbital stages and spacecraft that have completed their mission, is the de-orbiting using the JPS [9][10][11]. This method makes it possible to remove SOs within a predefined time to the specified target orbits.…”

Section: Literature Review and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of the combined method to de-orbit space objects using an electric rocket propulsion system

Golubek

Dron

Dubovik

et al. 2020

EEJET

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A method has been developed for the combined de-orbiting of large-size objects of space debris from low-Earth orbits using an electro-rocket propulsion system as an active de-orbiting means. A principal de-orbiting technique has been devised, which takes into consideration the patterns of using an electric rocket propulsion system in comparison with the sustainer rocket propulsion system. A procedure for determining the parameters of the de-orbiting scheme has been worked out, such as the minimum total speed and the time of the start of the de-orbiting process, which ensures its achievement. The proposed procedure takes into consideration the impact exerted on the process of the de-orbiting by the ballistic factor of the object, the height of the initial orbit, and the phase of solar activity at the time of the de-orbiting onset. The actual time constraints on battery discharge have been accounted for, as well as on battery charge duration, and active operation of the control system. The process of de-orbiting a large-size object of space debris has been simulated by using the combined method involving an electro-rocket propulsion system. The impact of the initial orbital altitude, ballistic coefficient, and the phase of solar activity on the energy costs of the de-orbiting process have been investigated. The dependences have been determined of the optimal values of a solar activity phase, in terms of energy costs, at the moment of the de-orbiting onset, and the total velocity, required to ensure the de-orbiting, on the altitude of the initial orbit and ballistic factor. These dependences are of practical interest in the tasks of designing the means of the combined de-orbiting involving an electric rocket propulsion system. The dependences of particular derivatives from the increment of a velocity pulse to the gain in the ballistic factor on the altitude of the initial orbit have been established. The use of these derivatives is also of practical interest to assess the effect of unfolding an aerodynamic sailing unit

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“…Based on the interaction effect with the geomagnetic field, electrodynamic thrust/drag is generated for changing the altitude of debris to achieve the orbit transfer or orbital debris removal [20]. The greatest merit of EDT is that the tether can generate electrodynamic force for a very long duration without or with little mass consumption [21] but a tether with long kilometer-level length dramatically increases the probability of quadratic collision [22]. The feasibility and implementability of EDT have been invalidated by a large number of well-known space missions, including TSS-1 [23] proposed by NASA in 1992, Plasma Motor Generator (PMG) [24] experiment of NASA in 1993, TSS-1R [25] (a follow-up mission to TSS-1) in 1996, and EDT of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…International Journal of Aerospace Engineering concluded that under the identical removal requirements, the solid propulsion motor can lead to a very compact system with a lower wet mass than that of a liquid/hybrid propulsion motor [22,35]. An electrical propulsion system uses electrical energy usually generated by solar panels (i.e., solar electrical propulsion (SEP) [36]) or electrically expelling propellant (i.e., working mass) to meet deorbiting velocity requirements, and its principle is different with those of EDT systems by the interaction with the geomagnetic field [22]. The propellant mass consumption of the electrical propulsion is much less than that of the chemical propulsion because of its higher exhaust speed [37], and space systems with electrical propulsion can run steadily in a long period.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomagnetic Energy Approach to Space Debris Deorbiting in a Low Earth Orbit

Feng

Zhang

2019

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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The space debris removal problem needs to be solved urgently. Over 70% of debris is distributed between the 500 km and 1000 km low Earth orbits (LEO), and existing methods may be theoretically feasible but are not the high-efficiency and low-consumption methods for LEO debris removal. Based on the torque effect of a static magnet interacting with the geomagnetic field, a new spin angular momentum exchange (SAME) method by geomagnetic excitation (without working medium consumption) for LEO active debris deorbiting is proposed. The LEO delivery capability of this method is researched. Two kinds of spin angular momentum accumulation (SAMA) strategies are proposed. Then through numerical simulation under the dipole model and International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF11) model, the results confirm the physical feasibility and basic performance of the proposed method. The method can be applied to the regions of the LEO below 1000 km with different altitudes/inclinations and eccentricities, and with existent magnetorquer technology, only several days of preparation is required for about 104 m·kg mechanism-scale-debris-mass deorbiting, which can be used for deorbiting missions in debris-intensive areas (altitude≤1000 km); without consideration of external effects on the geomagnetic field distribution, it has the same deorbiting capability with that of the LEO below 1000 km when the altitude is over 1000 km. Besides, the method is characterized by explicit mechanism, flexible control strategy and application, and low dependence on the scale. Finally, the key technology requirements and future application of LEO active debris removal and on-orbit delivery by using SAME are prospected.

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Comparison of technologies for deorbiting spacecraft from low-earth-orbit at end of mission

Cited by 33 publications

References 19 publications

Orbital Debris Threat for Space Sustainability and Way Forward (Review Article)

Orbital Debris Threat for Space Sustainability and Way Forward (Review Article)

Development of the combined method to de-orbit space objects using an electric rocket propulsion system

Geomagnetic Energy Approach to Space Debris Deorbiting in a Low Earth Orbit

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