Daniel Kucharski, SERC, James Bennett, SERC, Georg Kirchner, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Keywords: envisat, spin, laser maneuver
Abstract:
The defunct satellite Envisat is considered to be a potential target for a future de-orbit mission (ESA’s e.Deorbit). Before the removal from orbit, the massive satellite has to lose its rotational energy to present a stable attitude in the space. The laser tracking and optical observations reveal that the satellite’s spin energy decays according to an exponential trend and will dissipate by 2032. This loss of the spin energy is caused by the interaction between the metallic spacecraft and the Earth’s magnetic field and the de-spin process can be accelerated if an additional laser photon pressure is applied on the spacecraft’s body. The simulations performed with the macromodel of Envisat indicate that a global network of ten high power laser systems (20 kW each) has the potential to exert a significant laser photon pressure force and de-spin the spacecraft 11 years earlier than it would occur naturally.
Date of Conference: September 20-23, 2016
Track: Poster