Design of a scalable, reliable, cost-efficient, and modular de-orbit kit for spacecraft post-mission disposal

Paper number

IAC-17,A6,IP,45,x37904

Author

Mr. Konstantinos Konstantinidis, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany

Coauthor

Mrs. Alexandra Wander, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Nikolas Schmelz, Germany

Coauthor

Prof.Dr. Roger Förstner, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany

Year

2017

Abstract

A major source of new space debris are spacecraft (S/C) which are not removed after the end of their operational lifetime. Many regulations require the removal of S/C at the end of operation (Post-Mission-Disposal, or PMD) with a success rate of 90\%, but the rate of success has been in the range of 50\% - 60\%. This is due to the extra cost and effort needed to have a built-in PMD capability, the high likelihood of failure in the final  stages of an S/C lifetime before a PMD can be commanded, and the tendency of S/C owners to extend operations as long as possible.\\

TeSeR (Technology for Self-Removal) is a European Commission funded project that aims to take the first step towards the development of a cost-efficient but highly reliable PMD module. This PMD module shall be attached to the S/C on ground and it shall ensure the PMD of the S/C at the end of the nominal operational lifetime or act as a removal back-up in case that the S/C can no longer be controlled. The PMD module shall be scalable and flexible, thus enabling the PMD of any future S/C in an Earth orbit (either de-orbiting or re-orbiting). 
The primary aim of TeSeR is to develop a PMD module beginning with the exploration of concepts, going for a functional design with the final project aim to manufacture and test an on-ground prototype of the PMD module. In parallel, three different removal subsystems (solid propulsion, drag sail, electrodynamic tethers) will be developed for easy plug-in/plug-out implementation to the PMD module in order to demonstrate the flexibility of the PMD module. \\

In this paper we describe the design of a versatile, scalable, reliable, cost-efficient, and modular PMD module. We first categorize spacecraft by size and orbit. For each of these cases we present a PMD module that utilizes each of the three removal subsystems given above. Based on the resulting design cases, or variants, we generate a modular design that can perform PMD for all the S/C size classes and orbits considered. We also give a concept of operations for each of the design cases for reliable PMD. Finally we describe the two common interfaces of the PMD module: a first for plugging in each of the three removal subsystems to a PMD platform, and a second for mounting this PMD platform to a host S/C.

Abstract document

IAC-17,A6,IP,45,x37904.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

(absent)