Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As human space activities become increasingly frequent, the number of spacecrafts near low Earth orbit (LEO) has shown a significant growth trend. According to orbital dynamics principles, a large number of spacecrafts will remain in their original orbits for extended periods even after reaching the end of their operational lifetimes. This not only occupies limited orbital resources but also poses collision threats to the safety of nearby spacecraft. To maintain the safety of the space environment, countries have successively implemented policies and technical requirements for spacecraft end-of-life deorbiting. For instance, China has explicitly required low-orbit spacecraft to possess deorbiting capabilities since 2018. The European Space Agency (ESA) further proposed in 2023 that spacecraft should depart their orbits within five years after mission completion 1 .
Source: npj Space Exploration
Authors: Jingrui Zhang, Zhihan Yang, Ruonan Zhang, Keying Yang
Institution: Beijing Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,590
OpenAlex ID: W4416847631