PASSIVATION TECHNIQUES FOR FUTURE SPACECRAFT TO COMPLY WITH FRENCH SPACE OPERATIONS ACT

摘要

International standards require avoiding any accidentalrnbreak-ups of the spacecraft to prevent generation ofrnspace debris. Consequently, during disposal phase, arnspacecraft shall “permanently deplete or make safe allrnremaining on-board sources of stored energy”.rnThese operations are called passivation of thernspacecraft.rnThe French Space Law includes these requirements inrnthe Technical Regulation as follows for orbital vehicles:rnThe systems must be designed, produced andrnimplemented so that, following the disposal phases:rn1.all the on-board energy reserves arernpermanently depleted or placed in such a condition thatrnthey entail no risk of generating debris,rn2.all the means for producing energy on-boardrnare permanently deactivated.rnTo comply with these requirements for future satellitesrn(SL), CNES has started technical activities tornconsolidate the corresponding design.rnNext, the French technical requirements will be detailed,rnthe ways to comply will be explained for power systemsrnand propulsion systems and examples of technicalrndesign will be given.