De-orbiting microscope spacecraft by drag enhancement
- Paper number
IAC-06-B6.4.05
- Author
Mr. Pierre W. Bousquet, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Coauthor
Mr. Christian Dupuy, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
- Year
2006
- Abstract
CNES decided formally in October 2004 to apply a Code of Conduct originally drawn up by the main European space agencies earlier that year. It contains basic rules to be applied in space in order to limit the increase of orbital debris. In low Earth orbit, the rule is to limit in-orbit lifetime to 25 years after the end of the operational mission, or else to transfer to a graveyard orbit above 2000 Km. In order to follow these instructions, a task force was set-up in 2005 to find the best way to implement them on Microscope. This 200 Kg spacecraft should be launched in 2009 on a 735 Km high circular orbit. Without targeted action, its natural re-entry would occur in 60 years. Two strategies to reduce this time period were compared: - propulsive manoeuvre at the end of the mission, to decrease the orbit. Various technologies were considered (chemical propulsion, cold gas, solid propulsion, electrical propulsion), - deployment of large - lightweight - surfaces to increase dramatically the ballistic coefficient of the spacecraft and enable a faster re-entry through aerobraking. The preliminary results of this trade-off were presented at the 56th IAC. Since then, the 2nd strategy has been chosen. We will recapitulate the main characteristics of the candidate systems and the criteria that were used to establish the trade-off. The system impact and the generic potential were significant considerations. A detailed presentation of the deployable wing design will follow. This wing is based on a light-weight aluminised kapton membrane, deployed by an inflatable mast. The potential of this technology for similar applications will finally be elaborated, both for spacecrafts and for launcher upper stages. The contents of this paper correspond to an activity currently running at CNES, in agreement with the 2004 Code of Conduct mentioned above. The solution elaborated in this work is included in the baseline of the Microscope spacecraft. Its definition and performances have not previously been presented at a conference. The participation of the main author in the 2006 IAC has been budgeted by CNES.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-B6.4.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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