Articolo in rivista, 2009, ENG, 10.1016/j.actaastro.2008.10.007
Pardini C.; Hanada T.; Krisko P. H.
CNR-ISTI, Pisa, Italy; Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Japan; ESCG/JS, Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, USA
By using electrodynamic drag to greatly increase the orbital decay rate, an electrodynamic space tether can remove spent or dysfunctional spacecraft from low Earth orbit (LEO) rapidly and safely. Moreover, the low mass requirements of such tether devices make them highly advantageous compared to conventional rocket-based de-orbit systems. However, a tether system is much more vulnerable to space debris impacts than a typical spacecraft and its design must be proved to be safe up to a certain confidence level before being adopted for potential applications. To assess space debris related concerns, in March 2001 a new task (Action Item 19.1) on the "Potential Benefits and Risks of Using Electrodynamic Tethers for End-of-life De-orbit of LEO Spacecraft" was defined by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). Two tests were proposed to compute the fatal impact rate of meteoroids and orbital debris on space tethers in circular orbits, at different altitudes and inclinations, as a function of the tether diameter to assess the survival probability of an electrodynamic tether system during typical de-orbiting missions. IADC members from three agencies, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), participated in the study and different computational approaches were specifically developed within the framework of the IADC task. This paper summarizes the content of the IADC AI 19.1 Final Report. In particular, it introduces the potential benefits and risks of using tethers in space, it describes the assumptions made in the study plan, it compares and discusses the results obtained by ASI, JAXA and NASA for the two tests proposed. Some general conclusions and recommendations are finally extrapolated from this massive and intensive piece of research.
Acta astronautica 64 (5-6), pp. 571–588
Orbital debris mitigation, Spacecraft de-orbiting, Electrodynamic tethers, Tether survivability concerns
ISTI – Istituto di scienza e tecnologie dell'informazione "Alessandro Faedo"
CNR authors
External links
OAI-PMH: Dublin Core
OAI-PMH: Mods
OAI-PMH: RDF
DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2008.10.007
URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00945765?oldURL=y#64
External IDs
CNR OAI-PMH: oai:it.cnr:prodotti:44264
DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2008.10.007