Satellite de-orbiting system
AssigneeAerojet Rocketdyne, Inc.
InventorBrian P. Boyce
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A satellite de-orbiting device including at least one thruster, at least one sensor, and a controller configured to communicate with the at least one thruster and the at least one sensor. The de-orbiting device is configured to be attached to a satellite, and the at least one sensor is operable to communicate signals to the controller that are representative of at least one of temperature of a satellite, position of a satellite, movement characteristics of a satellite, or communication status of a satellite. The controller is configured to activate the at least one thruster for de-orbiting based on at least one of the temperature, the position, the movement characteristics, or the communication status.
Claims20
A satellite de-orbiting device comprising:
- at least one thruster;
- at least one sensor;
- a controller configured to communicate with the at least one thruster and the at least one sensor, wherein
- the de-orbiting device is configured to be attached to a satellite,
- the at least one sensor is operable to communicate signals to the controller that are representative of at least one of temperature of a satellite, position of a satellite, movement characteristics of a satellite, or communication status of a satellite, and
- the controller is configured to activate the at least one thruster for de-orbiting based on at least one of the temperature, the position, the movement characteristics, or the communication status.
A method for de-orbiting a satellite comprising:
- monitoring at least one of a temperature of a satellite, position of a satellite, movement characteristics of a satellite, or communication status of a satellite;
- and
- initiating a de-orbiting sequence responsive to at least one of:
- the temperature being below a temperature threshold for a continuous length of time that is greater than a temperature time threshold,
- the position and the movement characteristics deviating from an orbital parameter data for a continuous length of time that is greater than an orbital parameter time threshold, or
- the communication status indicating an absence of outbound communication for a continuous length of time that is greater than an outbound communication time threshold.
A system comprising:
- a satellite;
- a de-orbiting device attached to the satellite, the de-orbiting device including:
- at least one thruster,
- at least one sensor, and
- a controller communicating with the at least one thruster and the at least one sensor, wherein
- the at least one sensor is operable to communicate signals to the controller that are representative of at least one of temperature of the satellite, position of the satellite, movement characteristics of the satellite, or communication status of the satellite, and
- the controller is configured to activate the at least one thruster for de-orbiting based on at least one of the temperature, the position, the movement characteristics, or the communication status.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.