Abstract
The deorbiting of satellites at end-of-life is the only effective means to keep low-Earth orbit clean. With the success of solar-electric propulsion systems deorbiting now becomes economically feasible also for spacecraft above 1000 km altitude. The deorbiting in this case will take several months. The collision risk with 10-cm objects during this time is only of the order of 10 −6 per square meter, however, it may be used as an argument to reorbit an aging satellite above LEO rather than to deorbit it. With a proper collision avoidance concept this already low risk of an on-orbit collision with an operational satellite can almost be excluded. A 40 mN thrust system is sufficient for a 1000 kg spacecraft to keep a safe radial distance of 200 m from any target orbit.
Published Version
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