Abstract:
The Inter-Agency Debris Committee recommendation for the reorbiting of
geostationary satellites at the end of life involves an altitude increase of no more
than 300km for most operational satellites. Although this reduces the collision
probability in the geostationary ring itself, it does not remove the possibility of
fragmentation debris produced in the reorbital region from passing into the
geostationary ring. Unless the satellites are reorbited to a higher altitude than the
current recommendations, the debris problem will continue to escalate to an
unmanageable level. Due to mass and fuel budgets there are a limited number of
available propulsive options, which can achieve the necessary reorbit.
The research focus selected has been solar sails and this paper describes ongoing
research for the reorbit of geostationary satellites using this method.
Description:
Paper presented at Dynamics and Control of Systems and Structures in
Space (DCSSS), 6th conference, Riomaggiore, Italy, July 2004
