Abstract
Due to the increasing risk posed on satellites from space debris, requirements are now being implemented into satellites to be launched in the future to prevent the release of additional debris. One of the key requirements is the electrical passivation of satellites at end of mission (EoM) in order to prevent the break-up of satellites due to the stored energy in the power subsystem. In order to comply with these new specifications and find suitable solutions for the upcoming missions, a set of workshops and R&D activities have been initiated and conducted in the past few years. In particular it has provided a better understanding of the environmental constraints and the battery safety after EoM, together with the identification of the most appropriate implementations for electrical passivation. The latest available results of these activities and the ongoing work are presented within this paper. In addition, new spacecraft under development are currently implementing electrical passivation solutions taking into account the conclusions of these studies.
Highlights
The increasing number of space debris has become problematic for the sustainment of space activities in earth orbit
Due to the increasing risk posed on satellites from space debris, requirements are being implemented into satellites to be launched in the future to prevent the release of additional debris
One of the key requirements is the electrical passivation of satellites at end of mission (EoM) in order to prevent the break-up of satellites due to the stored energy in the power subsystem
Summary
The increasing number of space debris has become problematic for the sustainment of space activities in earth orbit. Several spacecraft breakups have been observed in the past and some of them are due to a battery breakup. In order to mitigate the risk to generate debris in the future, passivation of the spacecraft after end of mission is required in some cases. In particular the electrical passivation is intended to deplete and/or make safe the on-board battery. More detailed background information can be found in a previous paper [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call