Final ODAR

0038-EX-PL-2016 Text Documents

Georgia Institute of Technology

2016-07-18ELS_179587

                                      Prox—1



                  Orbital Debris Assessment Report
                               (ODAR)




                                              FINAL
                                           18 July 2016


Submitted by:


 BlmistA.
Dr. David A. Spencer, Prox—1 Principal Investigator


Record of Revisions
Revision Date           Affected Pages Description of Change       Authors

A        11 March 2016 All             Initial Revisions           Kevin
                                                                   Okseniuk

FINAL    18 July 2016   1, 4, 5        ITAR restriction removed,   David
                                       signature added, ODAR       Spencer
                                       self-assessment updated




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Table of Contents

RECORD OF REVISIONS                                                  2

TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                    3

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THE ODAR                                          4

ASSESSMENT REPORT FORMAT                                             5

MISSION DESCRIPTION                                                  5

ODAR SECTION 1: PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND MISSION OVERVIEW              5

SECTION 2: SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION                                    7

ODAR SECTION 3: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT DEBRIS RELEASED DURING
NORMAL OPERATIONS                                                    9

ODAR SECTION 4: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT INTENTIONAL BREAKUPS AND
POTENTIAL FOR EXPLOSIONS                                            10

ODAR SECTION 5: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT POTENTIAL FOR ON-ORBIT
COLLISIONS                                                          14

ODAR SECTION 6: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT POSTMISSION DISPOSAL PLANS
AND PROCEDURES                                                      14

ODAR SECTION 7: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT REENTRY HAZARDS            16

ODAR SECTION 7A: ASSESSMENT OF SPACECRAFT HAZARDOUS MATERIALS       17

ODAR SECTION 8: ASSESSMENT FOR TETHER MISSIONS                      18




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Self-Assessment of the ODAR
A self-assessment of the ODAR is provided below.

Orbital Debris Self-Assessment Report Evaluation: Prox-1 Mission
                              Spacecraft
Requirement #   Compliant   Not Compliant   Incomplete   Comments
4.3-1.a            X                                     No Debris Released in LEO.
4.3-1.b            X                                     No Debris Released in LEO.
4.3-2              X                                     No Debris Released in LEO.
4.4-1              X
4.4-2              X
4.4-3              X                                     No Planned Breakups.
4.4-4              X                                     No Planned Breakups.
4.5-1              X
4.5-2              X
4.6-1(a)           X
4.6-1(b)           X
4.6-1(c)           X
4.6-2              X
4.6-3              X
4.6-4              X
4.6-5              X
4.7-1              X
4.8-1              X




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Assessment Report Format
ODAR Technical Sections Format Requirements:
This ODAR follows the format in NASA-STD-8719.14, Appendix A.1 and includes the content
indicated at a minimum in each section 2 through 8 below for the Prox-1 satellite. Sections 9 through 14
apply to the launch vehicle ODAR and are omitted.


ODAR Section 1: Program Management and Mission Overview

Mission Description
The Georgia Institute of Technology Prox-1 mission will demonstrate automated trajectory control in
low-Earth orbit relative to a deployed three-unit (3U) CubeSat, for an on-orbit inspection application.
The Prox-1 flight system will deploy The Planetary Society’s LightSail-2 CubeSat using a standard 3U
Poly-Picosat Orbital Deployer (P-POD). Using vision-based relative navigation and a guidance strategy
that employs relative orbital elements for station-keeping and an artificial potential function for
persistent collision avoidance, Prox-1 will demonstrate automated proximity operations with a
university-class microsatellite platform. Funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research/Air
Force Research Laboratory through the University Nanosatellite Program-7, Prox-1 is scheduled to
launch in Q1 2017 as a secondary payload on the Space Test Program-2 launch. The student-led Prox-1
mission has involved more than 150 undergraduate and graduate students during design, development,
integration and testing.

Launch vehicle and launch site: SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral, FL.

Proposed launch date: Q1 2017

Mission duration: 6 weeks

Launch and deployment profile, including all parking, transfer, and operational orbits with
apogee, perigee, and inclination:

The Prox-1 orbital elements are defined as follows:

Apogee: 720 km
Perigee: 720 km
Inclination: 24.0 degrees

Prox-1 has a propulsion unit required for post-ejection rendezvous and station-keeping with respect to
LightSail 2 (LS2). The proximity operations phase of the mission is designed to operate within a radius
of 250m of LS2, therefore the propulsion unit is not intended for significant orbit changes. The net
propulsive delta-V capacity of Prox-1 is 16.5 m/s.




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Figure 1: Prox-1 nominal flight configuration.

Interaction or potential physical interference with other operational spacecraft:
   • At this time, we know of no potential interaction or physical interference between Prox-1 and
       any other operational spacecraft. The Prox-1 guidance algorithms have collision-avoidance
       capability if the distance between Prox-1 and LS2 becomes less than 25 m. The planned
       operating range during nominal proximity operations is 50 – 200 m.

Project Management:
   • Principal Investigator: Dr. David Spencer, Professor of the Practice, Georgia Institute of
       Technology
   • Project Manager: Christine Gebara, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
   • System Engineer: Swapnil Pujari, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

Key engineering personnel:
   • ADCS Lead: Phillip Reeder, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
   • COMM Lead: Nicholas Zerbonia, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
   • GNC Lead: Peter Schulte, Graduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology



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    •   Mission Operations Lead: Teresa Spinelli, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of
        Technology
    •   Structures Lead: Swapnil Pujari, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
    •   TCS Lead: Dylan Radford, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
    •   EPS Lead: Joseph Boettcher, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

Foreign government or space agency participation:
   • No foreign agency is participating in this mission. All personnel are United States citizens.

Summary of NASA’s responsibility under the governing agreement(s):
  • Not applicable.

Schedule of mission design and development milestones from NASA mission selection through
proposed launch date, including spacecraft PDR and CDR (or equivalent) dates*:

Date                                          Milestone
Q1-Q2 2013                                    Detailed Design
Q3 2013 – Q3 2015                             Development
Q4 2015 – Q2 2016                             Flight Unit Integration & Testing
Q3-Q4 2016                                    Delivery, Environmental Testing, LV
                                              Integration
Q1 2017                                       Launch
Q1-Q2 2017                                    Deployment and Operations


Section 2: Spacecraft Description
Physical description of the spacecraft:
The Prox-1 satellite has a net launch mass of 71.3 kg (69.4kg dry launch mass). Its physical dimensions
are 60.98 cm x 55.88 cm x 30.48cm (24 x 22 x 12 inches), and all of the flight structure is contained
within the envelope of this prism. There are no deployable structures attached to the spacecraft. Prox-1
will eject LS2 (net mass 4.9 kg) via the P-POD mechanism. Therefore, assuming no fuel was consumed
in orbit, its de-orbit mass after ejection will be 66.4 kg. The LS2 mission is submitting its own ODAR.

The Prox-1 satellite will contain the following systems:
   • Analog Devices AD16365 inertial measurement unit
   • Four ELMOS e910.86 coarse sun sensors (MEMS)
   • SpaceQuest GPS-ANT antenna
   • SpaceQuest GPS-12 GPS receiver
   • SpaceQuest MAG-3 Magnetometer
   • 3 In-house built magnetic torquers (Aluminum 6061 casing, Hiperco-50A core)
   • Honeybee Microsatellite Control Moment Gyroscope
   • Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) Mark II
   • The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 3U CubeSat
   • In-house built solar cells


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    •   ClydeSpace Ltd. 3U Flex EPS and Power Distribution Module
    •   3x 30 W-Hr ClydeSpace Lithium Polymer
    •   University of Texas-Austin Cold Gas Thruster (plus R-236f propellant)
    •   Aluminum 6061 mechanical structure
    •   Printed circuit boards (made out of FR-4, standard-grade)
    •   Texas Instruments’ BeagleBoard-XM flight computer
    •   3x Arduino MEGA2560 subsystem micro controllers
    •   SpaceQuest RX-445 UHF receiver (plus monopole antenna)
    •   SpaceQuest TX-2400 S-band transmitter (plus monopole antenna)
    •   Kantronics KPC-9612 terminal node controller

Total satellite mass at launch, including all propellants and fluids:
   • 71.3 kg

Dry mass of satellite at launch, excluding solid rocket motor propellants:
   • 69.4 kg

Description of all propulsion systems (cold gas, mono-propellant, bi-propellant, electric, nuclear):
   • The propulsion system is composed of a cold gas thruster developed at University of Texas-
       Austin. The propellant is a non-toxic R-236f refrigerant. A smaller version of this unit has flight
       heritage, and a filled Prox-1 unit has been extensively (160 hours) and successfully (no mass
       loss) tested in a laboratory vacuum environment representative of LEO.

Identification, including mass and pressure, of all fluids (liquids and gases) planned to be on board
and a description of the fluid loading plan or strategies, excluding fluids in sealed heat pipes:
   • The only fluid on-board is the R-236f refrigerant used in the propulsion unit. The mass of the
       propellant will be 1.84kg. The maximum pressure of the propellant will be 70.6 psia (at 316 K).
       The non-toxic propellant will be loaded at the environmental testing facility (Kirtland Air Force
       Base) prior to delivery and integration to the launch vehicle.

Fluids in Pressurized Batteries:
   • None. Prox-1 uses unpressurized standard COTS Lithium-Ion battery cells.

Description of attitude control system and indication of the normal attitude of the spacecraft with
respect to the velocity vector:
   • Attitude determination is accomplished with four types of sensors. The Analog Devices
       ADIS16365 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) provides 3-axis acceleration and angular rate
       measurements. The SpaceQuest MAG-3 magnetometer provides precise measurement of the
       Earth’s magnetic field in the spacecraft body-frame. Four ELMOS 986.10 sun sensors provide
       course sun angles. High-rate orbital state and timing information for precise orbit determination
       is given by a SpaceQuest Ltd. GPS-12-V1 receiver processing unit and antenna suite. Position
       accuracy of the GPS unit is specified as 10 m, and velocity accuracy is 0.03 m/s RMS. The
       subsystem interfaces with the flight computer via two microcontrollers with an ATMEGA2560
       processor, four custom hardware circuit boards, and a specialized set of harnessing. Software
       libraries for these components were developed at Georgia Tech.



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    •   Attitude control is achieved by a set of three orthogonally-oriented torque rods and CMGs. Three
        torque rods are mounted along the spacecraft body axes, and their design specification of
        producing a dipole moment of 10 A-m2 have been verified experimentally. The torque rods will
        be used for detumbling the spacecraft, and for CMG desaturation. A microsatellite CMG unit
        developed by Honeybee Robotics for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will be utilized
        for precise attitude control for Prox-1. The unit houses four gyroscopes in an integrated system
        that provides robust three-axis control. The microsatellite CMG unit will provide the fine attitude
        control necessary to accomplish precise pointing and agile maneuvering during proximity
        operations.
    •   The normal attitude of the spacecraft will be with the P-POD axis (the spacecraft’s major axis)
        aligned with the inertial velocity vector, and the top panel’s normal aligned with the nadir vector.

Description of any range safety or other pyrotechnic devices:
   • Prox-1 will use a burn wire for deployment of the LS2 satellite via the P-POD mechanism. The
       wire will burn at a resistor temperature of 200 C and a nominal voltage of 12.0V. The duration of
       the burn is 20 milliseconds and this has been repeatedly verified in laboratory experiments.

Description of the electrical generation and storage system:
   • Power is generated by seven body-mounted dual junction solar panels on four faces of the
       spacecraft for an average power generation during sunlit operations of 45 Watts. These solar
       panels were designed and fabricated by student personnel. Power generation and storage is
       regulated by a custom ClydeSpace Ltd. 3U Flex EPS and Power Distribution Module. These
       units have been modified to accommodate a total of 18 battery charge regulators for power
       generation. A sun-regulated bus distribute powers from the solar cells and batteries to the loads,
       with a nominal bus voltage of 28 +/- 1.5 VDC. During sunlight, shunt control dissipates excess
       power. Voltage is regulated to 5 V, 7 V, 12 V, and 28 V for instrument and subsystem operation.
       Energy is stored via the use of three 30 W-Hr ClydeSpace Lithium Polymer battery packs.

Identification of any other sources of stored energy not noted above:
   • None.

Identification of any radioactive materials on board:
   • None.


ODAR Section 3: Assessment of Spacecraft Debris Released during
Normal Operations
Identification of any object (>1 mm) expected to be released from the spacecraft any time after
launch, including object dimensions, mass, and material:
   • LightSail-2
   • 3U CubeSat, 10 x 10 x 30 cm
   • Net mass: 4.9kg

Rationale/necessity for release of each object:



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    •   LightSail 2 will be used as the target for Prox-1 to perform proximity operations. Prox-1 will
        provide on-orbit inspection of the LS2 sail deployment event.

Time of release of each object, relative to launch time:
   • LS2 ejection is scheduled to occur no later 14 days after launch in the nominal mission timeline.
      In case of a communication link failure, an on-board watchdog circuit and algorithm will
      automatically eject LS2 after 28 days since the flight computer was first initialized.

Release velocity of each object with respect to spacecraft:
   • LS2 will be deployed with delta-V of 1.6 m/s relative to Prox-1, in the cross-track direction.

Expected orbital parameters (apogee, perigee, and inclination) of each object after release:
   • The orbital parameters of LS2 will be negligibly different from the Prox-1 orbit parameters.
      Following deployment in the cross-track direction, LS2 will be on a 720km circular orbit at 24.0
      degrees of inclination.

Calculated orbital lifetime of each object, including time spent in Low Earth Orbit (LEO):
   • LS2 is expected to deorbit from LEO in 700 days. The LightSail 2 project will provide its own
      ODAR separate from Prox-1.

Assessment of spacecraft compliance with Requirements 4.3-1 and 4.3-2 (per DAS v2.0):
   • 4.3-1, Mission Related Debris Passing Through LEO: COMPLIANT
   • 4.3-2, Mission Related Debris Passing Near GEO: COMPLIANT


ODAR Section 4: Assessment of Spacecraft Intentional Breakups and
Potential for Explosions
There are no intentional breakups scheduled during on orbit operation. We are aware of no known
potential causes of spacecraft breakup during deployment and mission operations.

Potential causes of spacecraft breakup during deployment and mission operations:
   • There is no credible scenario that would result in spacecraft breakup during normal deployment
       and operations.

Summary of failure modes and effects analyses of all credible failure modes which may lead to an
accidental explosion:
   • The battery safety systems discussed in the FMEA (see requirement 4.4-1 below) describe the
       combined faults that must occur for any of nine independent, mutually exclusive failure modes
       that could lead to a battery venting. If the batteries fail, they are expected to vent gas rather than
       explode.

Detailed plan for any designed spacecraft breakup, including explosions and intentional collisions:
   • There are no planned intentional breakups by explosion, collision, nor by any other means.




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List of components which shall be passivated at End of Mission (EOM) including method of
passivation and amount which cannot be passivated:
   • There are two components that will be passivated at EOM. One is the propulsion unit: all
        propellant will be exhausted, in a direction to minimize the likelihood of close approach to other
        satellites. Next, the ground station will send a command to initiate EOM. All on-board
        components with the exception of the TNC (terminal node controller) will be disconnected from
        their respective power bus (i.e. the bus will be shut down through a command from the flight
        computer to the EPS computer). After confirmation is received in the ground, the EPS will
        disconnect the bus that carries power to the TNC, effectively and permanently disabling any
        communications to and from Prox-1. Without active attitude control, Prox-1 is in a power-
        negative state, and the nominal mission power draw from an idle flight computer will drain the
        batteries in approximately 6 days.

Rationale for all items which are required to be passivated, but cannot be due to their design:
   • It was deemed unnecessary to passivate the lithium ion batteries for EOM, as the satellite will
      break up on re-entry at the end of the mission.

Assessment of spacecraft compliance with Requirements 4.4-1 through 4.4-4:

Requirement 4.4-1: Limiting the risk to other space systems from accidental explosions during
deployment and mission operations while in orbit about Earth or the Moon:

For each spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stage employed for a mission, the program or project shall
demonstrate, via failure mode and effects analyses or equivalent analyses, that the integrated probability
of explosion for all credible failure modes of each spacecraft and launch vehicle is less than 0.001
(excluding small particle impacts) (Requirement 56449).

Compliance statement:

Required Probability: 0.001.

Expected probability: 0.0001.

Supporting Rationale and FMEA details:

Battery explosion:

Effect:
   • All failure modes below might result in battery explosion with the possibility of orbital debris
        generation. However, in the unlikely event that a battery cell does explosively rupture, the small
        size, mass, and potential energy, of these small batteries is such that while the spacecraft could
        be expected to vent gases, debris from the battery rupture will be contained within the vessel due
        to the lack of penetration energy.




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Probability:
   • Extremely Low. It is believed to be less than .0001 given that multiple independent (not common
      mode) faults must occur for each failure mode to cause the ultimate effect (explosion).

Failure mode 1: Internal short circuit.

Mitigation 1: Qualification and acceptance shock, vibration, thermal cycling, and vacuum tests followed
by maximum system rate-limited charge and discharge to prove that no internal short circuit sensitivity
exists.

Combined faults required for realized failure: Environmental testing AND functional charge/discharge
tests must both be ineffective in discovery of the failure mode.

Failure Mode 2: Internal thermal rise due to high load discharge rate.

Mitigation 2: Cells were tested in lab for high load discharge rates in a variety of flight like
configurations to determine if the feasibility of an out of control thermal rise in the cell. Cells were also
tested in a hot environment to test the upper limit of the cells capability. No failures were seen.

Combined faults required for realized failure: Spacecraft thermal design must be incorrect AND
external over current detection and disconnect function must fail to enable this failure mode.

Failure Mode 3: Overcharging and excessive charge rate.

Mitigation 3: The satellite bus battery charging circuit design eliminates the possibility of the batteries
being overcharged if circuits function nominally. This circuit has been proto- qualification tested for
survival in shock, vibration, and thermal-vacuum environments. The charge circuit disconnects the
incoming current when battery voltage indicates normal full charge.

Failure Mode 4: Excessive discharge rate or short circuit due to external device failure or terminal
contact with conductors not at battery voltage levels (due to abrasion or inadequate proximity
separation).

Mitigation 4: This failure mode is negated by a) qualification tested short circuit protection on each
external circuit, b) design of battery packs and insulators such that no contact with nearby board traces is
possible without being caused by some other mechanical failure, c) obviation of such other mechanical
failures by proto-qualification and acceptance environmental tests (shock, vibration, thermal cycling,
and thermal-vacuum tests).

Combined faults required for realized failure: An external load must fail/short-circuit AND external
over-current detection and disconnect function must all occur to enable this failure mode.

Failure Mode 5: Inoperable vents. Mitigation 5: Battery vents are not inhibited by the battery holder
design or the spacecraft. Combined effects required for realized failure: The manufacturer fails to install
proper venting.

Failure Mode 6: Crushing.



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Mitigation 6: This mode is negated by spacecraft design. There are no moving parts in the proximity of
the batteries.

Combined faults required for realized failure: A catastrophic failure must occur in an external system
AND the failure must cause a collision sufficient to crush the batteries leading to an internal short circuit
AND the satellite must be in a naturally sustained orbit at the time the crushing occurs.

Failure Mode 7: Low level current leakage or short-circuit through battery pack case or due to
moisture-based degradation of insulators.

Mitigation 7: These modes are negated by a) battery holder/case design made of non-conductive plastic,
and b) operation in vacuum such that no moisture can affect insulators.

Combined faults required for realized failure: Abrasion or piercing failure of circuit board coating or
wire insulators AND dislocation of battery packs AND failure of battery terminal insulators AND failure
to detect such failures in environmental tests must occur to result in this failure mode.

Failure Mode 8: Excess temperatures due to orbital environment and high discharge combined.

Mitigation 8: The spacecraft thermal design will negate this possibility. Thermal rise has been analyzed
in combination with space environment temperatures showing that batteries do not exceed normal
allowable operating temperatures which are well below temperatures of concern for explosions.
Combined faults required for realized failure: Thermal analysis AND thermal design AND mission
simulations in thermal-vacuum chamber testing AND the PTC device must fail AND over- current
monitoring and control must all fail for this failure mode to occur.

Failure Mode 9: Polarity reversal due to over-discharge caused by continuous load during periods of
negative power generation vs. consumption.

Mitigation 9: In nominal operations, the spacecraft EPS design negates this mode because the processor
will stop when voltage drops below limits. This disables ALL connected loads, creating a guaranteed
power-positive charging scenario. The spacecraft will not restart or connect any loads until battery
voltage is above the acceptable threshold. At this point, only the safemode processor and radio receiver
are enabled and charging the battery. Once the battery reaches 90% of the peak voltage, it will switch to
nominal mode and will be able to receive ground commands for continuing mission functions.

Combined faults required for realized failure: The microcontroller must stop executing code AND
significant loads must be commanded/stuck "on" AND power margin analysis must be wrong AND the
charge control circuit must fail for this failure mode to occur.

Requirement 4.4-2: Design for passivation after completion of mission operations while in orbit about
Earth or the Moon:

Design of all spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages shall include the ability to deplete all onboard
sources of stored energy and disconnect all energy generation sources when they are no longer required
for mission operations or postmission disposal or control to a level which can not cause an explosion or
deflagration large enough to release orbital debris or break up the spacecraft (Requirement 56450).



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Compliance statement:
   • Prox-1 battery charge circuits include overcharge protection and to limit the risk of battery
      failure. However, in the unlikely event that a battery cell does explosively rupture, the small size,
      mass, and potential energy, of these small batteries is such that while the spacecraft could be
      expected to vent gases, most debris from the battery rupture should be contained within the
      vessel due to the lack of penetration energy.
Requirement 4.4-3. Limiting the long-term risk to other space systems from planned breakups:

Compliance statement:
  • This requirement is not applicable. There are no planned breakups.

Requirement 4.4-4: Limiting the short-term risk to other space systems from planned breakups:

Compliance statement:
  • This requirement is not applicable. There are no planned breakups.


ODAR Section 5: Assessment of Spacecraft Potential for On-Orbit
Collisions
Assessment of spacecraft compliance with Requirements 4.5-1 and 4.5-2 (per DAS v2.02, and
calculation methods provided in NASA-STD-8719.14, section 4.5.4):
    • Requirement 4.5-1. Limiting debris generated by collisions with large objects when operating
       in Earth orbit: For each spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stage in or passing through LEO,
       the program or project shall demonstrate that, during the orbital lifetime of each spacecraft and
       orbital stage, the probability of accidental collision with space objects larger than 10 cm in
       diameter is less than 0.001 (Requirement 56506).

        Large Object Impact and Debris Generation Probability: 0.0001; COMPLIANT.

    •   Requirement 4.5-2. Limiting debris generated by collisions with small objects when operating
        in Earth or lunar orbit: For each spacecraft, the program or project shall demonstrate that,
        during the mission of the spacecraft, the probability of accidental collision with orbital debris
        and meteoroids sufficient to prevent compliance with the applicable postmission disposal
        requirements is less than 0.01 (Requirement 56507).

        Small Object Impact and Debris Generation Probability: 0.00001; COMPLIANT.


ODAR Section 6: Assessment of Spacecraft Postmission Disposal Plans
and Procedures
6.1 Description of spacecraft disposal option selected:
    • The satellite will de-orbit with the aid of an electromagnetic tether (Tethers Unlimited Ltd.
       Nanosat Terminator Tape™), installed in the bottom plate of the satellite. The unit has an
       autonomous clock that will deploy the tether after 6 months of operation. The satellite will then


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       finalize deorbit by atmospheric re-entry within a 25-year period. There is no propulsive
       maneuver planned for de-orbit.

6.2 Plan for any spacecraft maneuvers required to accomplish postmission disposal:
    • None.

6.3 Calculation of area-to-mass ratio after postmission disposal, if the controlled reentry option is
not selected:
    • Spacecraft Mass: 66.4 kg
    • Cross-sectional Area: 0.17 m^2 (Calculated for frontal area, nominal attitude with respect to
        velocity vector).
    • Area to mass ratio: 0.17/66.4 = 0.002565 m^2/kg

6.4 Assessment of spacecraft compliance with Requirements 4.6-1 through 4.6-5 (per DAS v 2.0
and NASA-STD-8719.14 section):
    • Requirement 4.6-1. Disposal for space structures passing through LEO: A spacecraft or orbital
       stage with a perigee altitude below 2000 km shall be disposed of by one of three methods:
       (Requirement 56557)

       a. Atmospheric reentry option:
          • Leave the space structure in an orbit in which natural forces will lead to atmospheric
             reentry within 25 years after the completion of mission but no more than 30 years after
             launch; or
          • Maneuver the space structure into a controlled de-orbit trajectory as soon as practical
             after completion of mission.
       b. Storage orbit option:
          • Maneuver the space structure into an orbit with perigee altitude greater than 2000 km and
             apogee less than GEO - 500 km.
       c. Direct retrieval:
          • Retrieve the space structure and remove it from orbit within 10 years after completion of
             mission.

Analysis: The Prox-1 satellite reentry is COMPLIANT using Method “a”. Prox-1 will re-enter within 25
      years, as shown by analysis provided by the electrodynamic tether’s vendor (see AIAA 00-0329
      by Hoyt and Forward). Additionally, an equivalent aerodynamic “drag” force was created to
      match that of the average force exerted by the electromagnetic tether. Given a new aerodynamic
      drag coefficient derived from such equivalent force, DAS v2.0 showed that Prox-1 would deorbit
      in 6.4 years after the tether is deployed. A graphical result is shown below.




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Figure 2: Prox-1 orbit history, assuming an aerodynamic drag force equivalent to that exerted by
the electrodynamic tether.

Requirement 4.6-2. Disposal for space structures near GEO.

Analysis: Not applicable. Prox-1 orbit is LEO.

Requirement 4.6-3. Disposal for space structures between LEO and GEO.

Analysis: Not applicable. Prox-1 orbit is LEO.

Requirement 4.6-4. Reliability of Postmission Disposal Operations

Analysis: Prox-1 relies on a Tethers Unlimited electrodynamic tether to provide post-mission disposal
operations. The tether is model “MicroSat Terminator Tape” and is widely used on ESPA-class
satellites. The tether element is provided by the Program Sponsor (University Nanosatellite Program)
and will be installed at Kirtland Air Force Base prior to environmental testing. The tether mechanism is
completely autonomous, and does not rely upon Prox-1 aliveness for deployment.


ODAR Section 7: Assessment of Spacecraft Reentry Hazards
Assessment of spacecraft compliance with Requirement 4.7-1:

Requirement 4.7-1. Limit the risk of human casualty: The potential for human casualty is assumed for
any object with an impacting kinetic energy in excess of 15 joules:

    a. For uncontrolled reentry, the risk of human casualty from surviving debris shall not exceed



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         0.0001 (1:10,000) (Requirement 56626).


Summary Analysis Results: DAS v2.0 reports that Prox-1 is compliant with the requirement. It
predicts that only portions of the mechanical structure will survive reentry and reach the ground. The
computed risk of human casualty is 0.00003 (1:36,300), with a total debris casualty area of 1.24 m2.
Note that only the most massive components of the spacecraft were considered for this analysis, as all
other lightweight components will burnup/breakup more rapidly due to exposure to same thermal
loading.

           Compliance    Risk of Human        Sub             Demise          Total Debris       Kinetic
Object
             Status         Casualty       Component       Altitude (km)   Casualty Area (m2)   Energy (J)

Prox-1     Compliant        1:42000                                               1.24

                                           Torque Rods         60.5            0.000000         0.000000

                                              CMG              69.2            0.000000         0.000000

                                           Board Stacks        73.3            0.000000         0.000000

                                              TNC              73.0            0.000000         0.000000

                                         Propulsion Unit       72.9            0.000000         0.000000

                                           Mechanical
                                                                0.0               1.24            47239
                                            Structure




Table 1: Summary of results for verification analysis of Requirement 4.7-1.

Requirements 4.7-1b and 4.7-1c below are non-applicable requirements because Prox-1 does not use
controlled reentry.

4.7-1, b) NOT APPLICABLE. For controlled reentry, the selected trajectory shall ensure that no
surviving debris impact with a kinetic energy greater than 15 joules is closer than 370 km from foreign
landmasses, or is within 50 km from the continental U.S., territories of the U.S., and the permanent ice
pack of Antarctica (Requirement 56627).

4.7-1 c) NOT APPLICABLE. For controlled reentries, the product of the probability of failure of the
reentry burn (from Requirement 4.6-4.b) and the risk of human casualty assuming uncontrolled reentry
shall not exceed 0.0001 (1:10,000) (Requirement 56628).


ODAR Section 7A: Assessment of Spacecraft Hazardous Materials
Not Applicable. There are no hazardous materials contained on the spacecraft.




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ODAR Section 8: Assessment for Tether Missions
(Requirement 4.8-1) - Mitigate the collision hazards of space tethers in Earth or Lunar orbits:

Intact tether systems in Earth and lunar orbit shall meet the requirements limiting the generation of
orbital debris from on-orbit collisions (Requirements 4.5-1 and 4.5-2) and the requirements governing
postmission disposal (Requirements 4.6-1 through 4.6-4) to the limits specified in those paragraphs.
Due to the potential of tether systems being severed by orbital debris or meteoroids, all possible
remnants of a severed tether system shall be compliant with the requirements for the collision, debris,
and disposal of space structures.

Analysis: DAS v2.0 was used to verify this requirement. The table below represents the output for the
DAS simulation given tether specifications from the tether’s manufacturer. All pertinent requirements
were successfully met.

        Tether State   Requirement 4.5-1   Requirement 4.5-2   Requirement 4.6   Orbital Decay (days)

         Failed EM        Compliant           Compliant           Compliant            2588.0

       Successful EM      Compliant           Compliant           Compliant            2588.0




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Document Created: 2016-07-18 13:52:23
Document Modified: 2016-07-18 13:52:23

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