ESA's current approaches to end-of-life strategies for HEO missions

ESA's Space Debris Office (SDO) provides support and recommendations for the on-ground risk assessment at the satellite's end of life (EOL) to internal ESA missions as well as external partners. The support covers missions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and highly eccentric orbits (HEO), but also special cases such as a re-entry of interplanetary missions. While for LEO and Geostationary orbits (GEO), guidelines for disposal in terms of natural decays and graveyard orbit are available, HEO orbits require tailored strategies to guarantee limited interference with the protected regions and a safe re-entry. The present works aims to provide an overview and reflection on the current approaches for the end-of-life strategies for mission in HEO orbits, accounting for the main uncertainties.