Disposal orbits for GEO spacecraft: A method for evaluating the orbit heightdistributions resulting from implementing IADC guidelines

摘要

Geostationary orbit (GEO) is the most commercially valuable Earth orbit. TheInter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) has produced guidelinesto help protect this region from space debris. The guidelines propose moving asatellite at the end of its operational life to a disposal orbit, which isdesigned so that satellites left there will not infringe the operational GEOregion within a period of at least 100 yr. Standards are being developed throughthe International Organisation for Standardization to translate the IADCguidelines into engineering practice. This article presents an analytical methodfor calculating the distribution of final orbits assuming the IADC guidelines inGEO are implemented, as a function of distributions of satellite parameters(mass per unit area, solar radiation pressure reaction coefficient), the fuelmeasurement uncertainty, and the desired reliability of the disposal manoeuvre.Results show that typically the fuel measurement uncertainty dominates thedistribution of perigee heights rather than the scatter in satellite propertiesor desired manoeuvre reliability. The method is simple to implement and allowsthe effects of changes in system parameters to be evaluated quickly.