InflateSail de-orbit flight demonstration results and follow-on drag-sail applications

Abstract

The InflateSail (QB50-UK06) CubeSat, designed and built at the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) for the Von Karman Institute (VKI), Belgium, was one of the technology demonstrators for the European Commission's QB50 programme. The 3.2 kg 3U CubeSat was equipped with a 1 metre long inflatable mast and a 10m 2 deployable drag sail. InflateSail's primary mission was to demonstrate the effectiveness of using a drag sail in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to dramatically increase the rate at which satellites lose altitude and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and it was one of 31 satellites that were launched simultaneously on the PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle) C-38 from Sriharikota, India on 23 rd June 2017 into a 505km, 97.44 o Sun-synchronous orbit. Shortly after safe deployment in orbit, InflateSail automatically activated its payload. Firstly, it inflated its metrelong metal-polymer laminate tubular mast, and then activated a stepper motor to extend four lightweight bi-stable rigid composite (BRC) booms from the end of the mast, so as to draw out the 3.1m x 3.1m square, 12m thick polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) drag-sail. As intended, the satellite immediately began to lose altitude, causing it to re-enter the atmosphere just 72 days laterthus successfully demonstrating for the first time the de-orbiting of a spacecraft using European inflatable and drag-sail technologies. The InflateSail project was funded by two European Commission Framework Program Seven (FP7) projects: DEPLOYTECH and QB50. DEPLOYTECH had eight European partners including DLR, Airbus France, RolaTube, Cambridge University, and was assisted by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. DEPLOYTECH's objectives were to advance the technological capabilities of three different space deployable technologies by qualifying their concepts for space use. QB50 was a programme, led by VKI, for launching a network of 50 CubeSats built mainly by university teams all over the world to perform first-class science in the largely unexplored lower thermosphere. The boom/drag-sail technology developed by SSC will next be used on a third FP7 Project: RemoveDebris, launched in 2018, which will demonstrate the capturing and de-orbiting of artificial space debris targets using a net and harpoon system. This paper describes the results of the InflateSail mission, including the observed effects of atmospheric density and solar activity on its trajectory and body dynamics. It also describes the application of the technology to RemoveDebris and its potential as a commercial de-orbiting add-on package for future space missions.

The active space debris removal mission RemoveDebris. Part 2: In orbit operations

“…The lesson learned from the design, manufacturing, assembly and integration of the DragSAIL for RemoveDEBRIS were put into practice in the development of the DragSail for the InflateSAIL cubesat ([20] [21]) and two new dragsails that were designed and built for the Space Flight Industries for their SSO-A Mission [22].…”

Development of the aeromagnetic space debris deorbiting system

“…The current state of developing HDSs and aerodynamic means of debris removal can be estimated from analysing studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Thus, it is proposed in [10,11] to use a permanent magnet harpoon system for SDOs, which increases the reliability of the harpoon devices of SD removal.…”

“…Sailing [13][14][15][16][17] and transformed ADDSs [18] are similar in principle to the proposed system. These systems are passive means of clearing Earth's space from SDOs, where the removal process itself is performed without managing the relative position of the SDOs against the ADDSs.…”

“…However, considerable scientific interest in the development of sailboats and transformed ADDSs requires new engineering solutions to expand the boundaries of effective use of these facilities. In [13], it was proposed to have a sailing ADDS that can be deployed using a special inflatable mast. On 23 June 2017, a CubeSat 3U class spacecraft was launched and space testing of this system was performed in a 505 km sun-synchronous orbit.…”

RemoveDEBRIS: An in-orbit demonstration of technologies for the removal of space debris

“…ion-beam shepherd, Gecko adhesives, and polyurethane foam (21)(22)(23) , just to name some of the most relevant proposals. A very popular de-orbiting system has been dragsails, which attracted significant research attention and has already produced working devices (24)(25)(26) .…”