Orbital debris poses significant risks to space activities and is a threat extending into the foreseeable future. While identification and tracking of orbital threats is actively pursued in general, we focus on deorbiting very small satellites of the nanosat or cubesat size with miniature tether systems. Ch.2 describes the basic principles of electric tether physics, and outlines the geophysical environment of LEOs where tethered nanosat flying occurs. Ch.3 develops an equivalent circuit model of an electrodynamic (ED) tether system, and illustrates the surge currents and overvoltages under...
Orbital debris poses significant risks to space activities and is a threat extending into the foreseeable future. While identification and tracking of...