Study of end-of-life disposal options for highly-inclined geosynchronous satellites

In recent years, the growing volume of activities in the northern regions (Arctic, Canada, Northern Russia) has produced an increasing request for communications services. Several studies have concluded that there are already unsatisfied demands for communications services in the Arctic, and that adequate solutions must be developed to meet current and future requirements. Coverage of high-latitude regions (north of, say, 70º degrees) is not possible (or is seriously limited) from the geostationary orbit. On the other hand, low-altitude orbits require large constellations. In previous investigations (Fantino et al. 2013, Fantino et al. 2015),a family of eccentric, highly-inclined geosyncronous orbits has been proposed and the maintenance (i.e., orbit station keeping) requirements have been analysed. Once the mission is concluded, the long-term, uncontrolled orbital evolution of these orbits inevitably makes them cross the geostationary ring, with consequent high collision danger for the many telecommunications satellites operating at such altitudes. As a result, a disposal strategy is mandatory and, in agreement with current international space policy, should be conceived and detailed as part of the mission design. In particular, an adequate amount of propellant should be available at mission termination to carry out the corresponding end-of-life operations. The proposed study consists in the evaluation of the available options (maneuver strategy, propellant cost, type of engine, execution times and any other relevant aspect that may arise) for disposal of this type of satellites. The scarcity of satellites operating in this class of orbits gives the work a strong character of originality. Furthermore, the growing commercial interest in extending satellite telecommunications service to the high latitude regions gives the study a clear projection into the future of space exploitation.The study aims at identifying and evaluating alternative options for satellite end-of-life disposal from an eccentric highly-inclined geosynchronous orbit. The issues to be considered are the maneuver strategy, the execution times, the requirements on propellant mass and the type of engine required for maneuver execution.

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