With the recent enforcement of the French Space Operation Act, all the satellites operated by French parties have to be cleanly passivated. The microsatellite Demeter, passivated in January 2011, was not initially designed for such operations. A depletion analysis is conducted, based on the observation of satellite attitude and thrusters actuations during de-orbitation maneuvers. Results of the propellant gauging computation are then enhanced with respect to satellite behaviour. This fluidic passivation of a diaphram tank-based propulsion system highlights the feasibility of a complete depletion without any risk of debris generation and the need to perform accurate propellant gauging on small satellites.
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