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The Terminator Tape Low-Cost Deorbiting System

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA9453-09-M-0099
Agency Tracking Number: F083-198-1038
Amount: $99,998.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF083-198
Solicitation Number: 2008.3
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2008
Award Year: 2009
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2009-02-17
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2010-02-17
Small Business Information
11711 N. Creek Pkwy S., Suite D113
Bothell, WA 98011
United States
DUNS: 877425330
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Robert Hoyt
 Principal Investigator
 (425) 486-0100
 Brian.Spence@DeployableSpaceSystems
Business Contact
 Robert Hoyt
Title: General Manager
Phone: (425) 486-0100
Email: Brian.Spence@DeployableSpaceSystems
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

TUI proposes to develop a Terminator Tape deorbit module that will utilize both aerodynamic drag enhancement and passive electrodynamic drag to enable spacecraft to comply with post-mission orbital lifetime restrictions while minimizing cost, mass, volume, and footprint impacts to the spacecraft.  At the completion of the satellites mission, this module will deploy a several-hundred meter length of metalized mylar tape, utilizing gravity gradient forces to align it along the local vertical so as to maximize its aerodynamic drag area.  Voltages induced by the conducting tapes motion through the Earths magnetic field will charge the top and bottom of the tape relative to the ambient environment, driving collection of electron and ion currents which will result in a small but significant flow of current along the length of the tape.  This current will induce an electrodynamic drag force on the system, enhancing the orbital decay of the system, especially at mid-to-high-LEO altitudes where neutral drag is small. The proposed effort will develop a preliminary design and prototype for the hardware and its spacecraft interface, perform detailed analysis and simulation of the deorbit performance of the system, and develop a plan for maturation and validation of the hardware through ground and on-orbit testing. BENEFIT: The Terminator Tape deorbit module will provide a lightweight, low-cost, autonomous capability for ensuring that spacecraft and upper stages meet orbital lifetime requirements.  It will enable DoD spacecraft lacking propulsion capabilities to operate at mid-to-high-LEO altitudes without violating debris mitigation requirements, and it will enable spacecraft with propulsion to be operated to their full delta-V and lifetime capability, maximizing return on the investment made in these systems.  Additionally, it can provide a back-up means for stabilizing spacecraft that experience attitude control failures.  The Terminator Tape will be equally applicable to DoD, NASA, and commercial spacecraft, and its potential market is every satellite, upper stage, interstage, and other object launched into LEO.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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