Abstract
The increasing congestion of spacecraft in low Earth orbit has amplified concerns that on orbit collisions will damage operational satellites and propagate a chain reaction of debris generation. Furthermore, as nano (sub-10 kg) and micro (sub-100 kg) spacecraft continually decrease the cost and entry barriers to low Earth orbit access, there is a growing concern that uncontrolled small satellites will pose a threat to their operational neighbours at the end of their operational lives. The small satellite community is therefore beckoned to remedy this matter, but must do so in a manner that does not jeopardize existing merits with which small satellites have excelled; that is, low cost and high performance. In seeking a solution, this paper discusses portions of the design and testing of the gossamer drag sail disposal system developed at the Space Flight Laboratory to be qualified on the CanX-7 3U CubeSat. Contrary to existing drag sails, the system discussed herein requires less than 1U of volume, needs no control or operations after deployment, and has extended use with larger spacecraft (larger than 3U form factors) due to its segmented sail design. This paper presents the design of the sail and onboard imaging system, and concludes with a discussion on testing performed with flight representative drag sail modules to characterize the deployment times expected in the low Earth orbit environment.
Sail Material, Inspection Imager, and Deployment Analysis for an End-Of-Life Disposal Drag Sail
The increasing congestion of spacecraft in low Earth orbit has amplified concerns that on orbit collisions will damage operational satellites and propagate a chain reaction of debris generation. Furthermore, as nano (sub-10 kg) and micro (sub-100 kg) spacecraft continually decrease the cost and entry barriers to low Earth orbit access, there is a growing concern that uncontrolled small satellites will pose a threat to their operational neighbours at the end of their operational lives. The small satellite community is therefore beckoned to remedy this matter, but must do so in a manner that does not jeopardize existing merits with which small satellites have excelled; that is, low cost and high performance. In seeking a solution, this paper discusses portions of the design and testing of the gossamer drag sail disposal system developed at the Space Flight Laboratory to be qualified on the CanX-7 3U CubeSat. Contrary to existing drag sails, the system discussed herein requires less than 1U of volume, needs no control or operations after deployment, and has extended use with larger spacecraft (larger than 3U form factors) due to its segmented sail design. This paper presents the design of the sail and onboard imaging system, and concludes with a discussion on testing performed with flight representative drag sail modules to characterize the deployment times expected in the low Earth orbit environment.
