Electrodynamic tether and brake sails combination deorbit design

Abstract

Given the growing threat of an impending space debris crisis, nations worldwide have intensified their research efforts in satellite deorbiting technologies. Electrodynamic tether and braking sails stand out as popular methods for spacecraft deorbiting that do away with the necessity for propellant. However, these methods possess their own set of limitations. This paper presents a holistic dynamical model for a fusion of electrodynamic tether and braking sails. The aim is to avoid the complex nonlinear dynamics during the deployment, retrieval, and dwell time of electrodynamic tether, while compensating for the insufficient trust generated by braking sails in high orbital environments. The objective is to enable satellite to deorbit swiftly and stably under a broader range of conditions. Specifically accomplishing the following three aspects: conceptualizing the design of an ideal equipment, implementing simulated deorbiting process, and conducting an efficiency comparative analysis with prevalent current deorbiting methods. Through numerical simulations, the effectiveness and feasibility of this proposed design have been validated.