A Flight Model of a Deorbit Device and a Green Mobility Module Based on Electrodynamic Tether Technology

A flight-ready deorbit device, together with its acceptance test campaign, and a compact mobility module based on Electrodynamic Tether (EDT) technology are presented. With a volume of 12U and a mass of 19.5 kg, the flight model of the deorbit device was developed following the successful qualification of its engineering qualification model, which underwent an extensive test campaign including pressure, leak, functional, partial and full tether deployment, vibration, shock, thermal vacuum cycling, electromagnetic compatibility, and hold-down and release mechanism separation tests. In addition to its communication, power, attitude determination and control, and fluid subsystems, the flight model incorporates a 420 m-long tape tether (410 m bare and 10 m inert) for anodic contact, and a heater-less hollow cathode for cathodic contact. Its in-orbit demonstration is scheduled for 2026/2027. Regarding the mobility module, it is a 3U non-autonomous device that hosts a short and spinning EDT, a deployment mechanism with reel-in and reel-out capabilities and an expellant-less cathode. Recent progress on thin film solar cells based on tandem Copper Indium-Gallium-Selenide/Perovskite and applied to the bare-photovoltaic EDT concept is also presented.