Speakers
Description
The ADEO-N subsystem is the smallest of a scalable drag augmentation device family ADEO that uses the residual Earth atmosphere present in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to passively de-orbit small satellites. For the de-orbit manoeuvre a large surface is deployed which multiplies the drag effective surface of the satellite significantly. Thereby the drag force is increased, causing accelerated decay in orbit altitude. An advantage of a drag augmentation device compared to other de-orbit methods is, that it does not require any active steering and can be designed for passive attitude stabilization thereby making it applicable for non-operational, non-stabilized spacecrafts as well. The ADEO-N subsystem consists of four deployable booms that span a sail in a planar shaped configuration. While the sail is made of an aluminium coated polyimide foil, its coating thickness was chosen such that it provides sufficient protection from the LEO space environment. ADEO-N was qualified in the first half of 2021 and was launched in a 3.6m² drag sail configuration on 30th of June 2021 on D-Orbit’s “Dauntless David” ION Satellite Carrier for its “In Orbit Demonstration” (IOD). The deployment of the ADEO-N drag sail in orbit is planed between the end of 2021 and before the end of the second quarter of 2022, to demonstrate its capabilities to accelerate the orbit degradation of the ION Satellite Carrier in the following months.
