In the spring of 2011, a commercial spacecraft (SSC Object #27838) performeda final maneuver that sent the spacecraft into Earth’s lower atmosphereresulting in a reentry event that began over the southern Pacific Ocean. Whileit is not known if any spacecraft debris survived reentry, the design of the finalorbit was such that potentially surviving debris would impact within a “safezone” in the Pacific Ocean. The purpose of this paper is to report the deorbittrajectory design and implementation, which includes accommodating constraintsand limitations of a vehicle whose design and mission never included acontrolled deorbit.
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