Description
The objective of the activity is to design, manufacture and test technologies enabling the removal of failed small satellites (e.g.tumbling) from low earth orbit. Several breadboards will be developed and tested to reduce tumbling and to enable rendezvous and capture.Targeted Improvements: Enabling de-orbiting of large constellations of low Earth orbit telecommunication satellites. Description: In the coming years it is expected that the number of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) will grow exponentially. For telecommunication satellites alone this growth could be in the order of tens of thousands, taking into account new large constellations from commercial global players. According to the recently updated ISO standard on space debris mitigation, the success ratio for disposalfor these satellites should be at least 90% at the end of their mission, with the remaining 10% of satellites left as debris in theLEO protected region. Failed satellites are a risk to constellation operators and increase operational cost, as collision avoidancemanoeuvres become more frequent, especially if the failed satellites fragment. Several companies have already started developingtheir business cases for an Active Debris Removal (ADR) service. However, most of the small satellites to be launched are not yet prepared to be removed from orbit should they fail. This activity will enable the removal of failed small satellites from low earth orbit. A study for the future Copernicus platforms has already been performed and a set of design-for-removal (D4R) requirements hasbeen developed. In parallel, three D4R technologies have been developed to TRL 3: a mechanical grapple interface, markers to aid rendezvous and capture and a magnetorquer-based system to detumble the satellite at the end-of-life. Similar concepts are feasible forsmall satellites. Hence, this activity will carry out critical the design, breadboarding and testing of- a passive, fail-safe detumbling system,- a marker based system for determining the spacecraft orientation needed for rendezvous and capture,- a grappling interface for capture.Footnote: On Delegation Request activities will only be initiated on the explicit request of at least one National Delegation.