Master thesis presentation by Sara Sanchis Climent: "Towards a Demisable Satellite Platform"

The increasing presence of space debris poses significant risks to the sustainability of space operations. ESA's Clean Space Initiative is addressing this issue through its Zero Debris approach, which aims to prevent the creation of new debris by ensuring that all future missions are designed considering a sustainable End of Life management. A key part of this is the Design for Demise (D4D) strategy, which aims to ensure that satellite components burn up during atmospheric re-entry, thereby minimizing the risk of debris reaching the Earth's surface. This thesis presents a state of the art review of existing D4D strategies, analysing and comparing their effectiveness. It also evaluates current demisable technologies, taking into account their Technology Readiness Levels, applications, and how demisable they are. This evaluation links the technology to the D4D strategies, identifying how they contribute to the overall satellite demisability. Additionally, the review identifies gaps in existing research and areas requiring further technological development, to define a technology development roadmap towards achieving a demisable satellite platform.

The thesis also addresses the uncertainties surrounding on ground testing and simulations for demise evaluation. To further this, the Destructive Re-entry Assessment Container Object (DRACO) mission is explained, as it seeks to improve the understanding of the demise process by validating current demise simulation tools and on ground testing with in-flight data. DRACO will study the demise of Objects of Interest (OoI) integrated in the platform using cameras, thermocouples and spectroscopic markers. Among other things, the thesis presents the trade-off performed on how to integrate and locate the sensors and OoI within the platform. The scientific return from DRACO will contribute significantly to refining D4D strategies and improving satellite design for future missions.