In recent years, space utilization by microsatellites has been worldwide increasing. On the other hand, it is becoming important to remove a satellite from orbit after its operation phase is terminated. To tackle this situation, Tohoku University and Nakashimada Engineering Works, Ltd. developed De-Orbit Mechanism (DOM) for microsatellites. DOM is a device which is installed onto a satellite on the ground and then is launched together with the satellite. When the operation of the satellite is finished, a thin film stored in DOM is deployed and the satellite will re-enter the Earth atmosphere because of the atmospheric drag which extremely slightly exists in Low Earth Orbit and is increased by the film. In 2017, an orbit verification of DOM was carried out using 'FREEDOM' which is a 1 unit size CubeSat. The development team evaluates that the technologies on DOM have reached a practical level because both the activation and the performance of DOM were confirmed through the orbit verification. This presentation includes the principle of motion of DOM, the specification, and the orbit verification results conducted by FREEDOM.
内容記述
形態: カラー図版あり
内容記述(英)
Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations