Design and analysis of electro-dynamic tether micro-satellite for active space debris mitigation

Electro-dynamic tethers offer high performance as propellantless deorbiting systems and are one of the main candidates for the implementation of active space debris removal. After a preliminary review of the current space debris situation in low earth orbit, the fundamental aspects of Electro-dynamic Tether (EDT) are described. When the electro-dynamic tether is deployed, the Lorentz force generated by conductive cable cutting the earth's magnetic field produces an electro-dynamic drag leading to a fast satellite orbital decay. Issues about tether impact risk with other debris and constraints in near polar orbits are also introduced. The BUAA-SAT is a micro-satellite developed by Beihang University with the purpose of space technology test and education. According to the configurations of BUAA-SAT and EDT technology, a concept design of de-orbiting system suitable for micro-satellite with high inclination is put forward. A short extensible mast which has high survival rate and easy to control is considered to replace with the tether in the design. The de-orbiting model has been established and the de-orbiting numeric simulation results show that the electro-dynamic mast can greatly reduce the de-orbiting time.