Session
Session 10: Year In Review
Abstract
As a proactive solution to the orbital debris problem, the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has developed a passive drag sail deorbit device to remove small satellites from low-Earth orbit (LEO). Upon end-of-mission, the drag sail can be deployed to decrease the ballistic coefficient of the host spacecraft. Without any further operator intervention, the drag sail will interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere to decrease the spacecraft’s orbital energy causing it to eventually deorbit. In order to demonstrate the drag sail technology on-orbit, it has been included as the primary payload on-board the CanX-7 mission, which was launched in September 2016. After successfully completing a seven-month aircraft tracking campaign using the CanX-7 ADS-B payload, the drag sails were deployed in May 2017. This paper provides a first look at the on-orbit results from the CanX-7 mission, focusing on the performance of SFL’s drag sail device.
Presentation
On-Orbit Results from the CanX-7 Drag Sail Deorbit Mission
As a proactive solution to the orbital debris problem, the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has developed a passive drag sail deorbit device to remove small satellites from low-Earth orbit (LEO). Upon end-of-mission, the drag sail can be deployed to decrease the ballistic coefficient of the host spacecraft. Without any further operator intervention, the drag sail will interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere to decrease the spacecraft’s orbital energy causing it to eventually deorbit. In order to demonstrate the drag sail technology on-orbit, it has been included as the primary payload on-board the CanX-7 mission, which was launched in September 2016. After successfully completing a seven-month aircraft tracking campaign using the CanX-7 ADS-B payload, the drag sails were deployed in May 2017. This paper provides a first look at the on-orbit results from the CanX-7 mission, focusing on the performance of SFL’s drag sail device.
