ESA title
Containment techniques to reduce spacecraft re-entry footprint
Enabling & Support

How can we contain all the parts of a space craft on re-entry?

22/02/2024 40 views 0 likes
ESA / Enabling & Support / Space Engineering & Technology / Shaping the Future

Design for Demise is being applied in order to reduce the on-ground casualty risk. However, several parts of the spacecraft, due to performance requirements or long development cycles (e.g. Optical instruments, large mechanisms, etc.), may not be able to significantly change materials or design. During re-entry, each of these elements may generate several debris surviving re-entry increasing significantly the on-ground casualty risk. Containment allows to limit the risk of a casualty on ground by reducing the number of independent fragments reaching the ground. In some cases, this may be enough to render a mission feasible within the cost and schedule as it may avoid major design changes. To take the best benefit of these techniques their application must be analysed at system level. The inclusion of this new function in the designs shall not be analysed in isolation in order to mitigate the mass impact and promote potential positive impacts.