Home   /   Portfolio   /  Deployable Gossamer Sail for Deorbiting

Deployable Gossamer Sail for Deorbiting

Advanced Technology Space Segment - Platform
STATUS | Completed
STATUS DATE | 19/12/2013
ACTIVITY CODE | 4C.021

PAGE CONTENTS

Objectives

The purpose of this project is to develop a gossamer sail system that can be used for deorbiting satellites at end-of-life. The principle that the system will use to achieve deorbiting is aerodynamic drag from the larger surface area. The system is intended mainly for low Earth orbit (LEO) telecom satellites but can potentially also be used in higher orbits, making use of solar radiation pressure to perform end-of-life manoeuvres. The objectives for the project are:
  • Undertake a detailed analysis of the requirements and potential use cases of a deployable sail deorbiting system.
  • Compare the concept with current de-orbit strategies and technologies
  • Design, manufacture and test an engineering model gossamer sail deployment system

Challenges

This project will address the growing concern of orbital debris. This is a challenging problem with no single solution. Maintaining a compact volume envelope and low mass for a large deployable structure such as the gossamer sail is also challenging, as is deployment testing under gravity conditions.

Plan

The project consisted of distinct work packages that focussed on
  • Analysis of needs, use-cases and requirements
  • Concept design of the proposed deorbit device
  • Detailed design of the proposed deorbit device
  • Manufacture and testing of an EM model to validate the proposed concept against the requirements and prove reliable functioning of the device.

Current Status

The project has now been concluded.
 

The project ended with the successful conclusion of the test campaign of the deployable gossamer sail. Functional deployment of the device yielded many unforeseen problems, design challenges and testing challenges. These were successfully mitigated and the team succeeded in consistently deploying a 5m x 5m sail. Environmental tests, vibration, thermal/vacuum testing and loading and survivability tests served to validate the engineering model against the design requirements. As a consequence, the project has taken the overall system technology readiness to level 5/6.