Satellite Design For Recovery

A Space Debris Mitigation Advocacy Group

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Mike has been a guest on the Cold Star Project podcast twice now – see both interviews here –

Satellite Design For Recovery – Cold Star Project S02E23

The Space Traffic Management Phantom – Cold Star Project S02E51

OUR MISSION

Satellite DFR is a space debris mitigation advocacy group. Our primary goal is to ensure that all future objects launched into earth’s orbit are configured for later retrieval from orbit.

OUR ASKS OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY

Think long term – beyond the sale, beyond lifetime, beyond passivation to the spacecraft’s ultimate disposal – Design to demise
Agree that ADR is required to maintain utility of near earth orbit
Agree that all future designs will be recoverable and advocate for industry cooperation
Fund R&D efforts to develop recovery techniques and technologies for their designs – including disassembly and materials/component recovery and recycling
Work with international community to develop global standards for recovery interfaces
Sponsor internships of students to study satellite recovery and disposal issues – seed the ADR future
Conduct a reentry risk analysis on all satellites
Create archive of satellite design and disposal data and hold in escrow for future ADR mission planners

Agree that ADR is required to ensure future space operations – Maintain your operating environment
Sign DFR pledge and advocate for industry acceptance
Include DFR in all RFPs for satellites and launch vehicles
Fund ADR studies for recovery and disposal of satellites and rocket bodies

Agree to implement DFR for all LVs components that must remain in orbit
Change future launch ops to leave nothing in orbit but payloads

IADC: Remove remediation from Working Group 4 and add a 5^th working group focused on remediation to coordinate standards; modify existing, or create new legal constructs; and, facilitate future ADR missions
Modify the current guidelines to require that all objects launched into Earth orbit be analyzed for their re-entry risk to document whether a controlled re-entry is required or not
Make mandatory that owners and operators of all space objects be required to provide accurate orbital data for the duration of their object’s time on orbit
Require all builders of space objects to document their designs (past and present) in an archive for future use by debris removal mission planners
Update the current space catalog to uniquely identify collisions and all debris generated by each collision, and through subsequent collisions and multiple generations of debris, to accurately provide attribution to the maximum extent possible

Develop areas of study for students relating to DFR and ADR
Work with space community to refine areas of study

There Is More to DFR Than Handles

Jan 8, 2019

While handles, grapple posts, or similar features are important in the recovery of satellites, design for recovery (DFR) does not begin and end there. DFR asks the overarching question: what is the ultimate disposal of this object and how do we design, document, and...

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