---
title: "Report: End of Life Operations for Disposal of Mega Constellations (ESA 2018)"
id: 55856
type: "post"
slug: "report-end-of-life-operations-for-disposal-of-mega-constellations-esa-2018"
author: "NSE"
published: "2023-06-17T13:51:00+00:00"
modified: "2023-06-17T13:51:42+00:00"
canonical: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2023/06/17/report-end-of-life-operations-for-disposal-of-mega-constellations-esa-2018/"
markdown_url: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2023/06/17/report-end-of-life-operations-for-disposal-of-mega-constellations-esa-2018.md"
description: "The objective of this research was to understand the operational complexity of large mega-constellation systems, and the potential needs to operate these…"
language: "en-US"
category:
  - "Space Economy"
post_tag:
  - "Research"
  - "Satellite Constellations"
  - "Spacecraft"
---

# Report: End of Life Operations for Disposal of Mega Constellations (ESA 2018)

## Synopsis

The objective of this research was to understand the operational complexity of large mega-constellation systems, and the potential needs to operate these, including the complexity of collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAMs). This objective was achieved by:

- Assessing different end-of-life strategies for mega-constellations of the size and complexity as foreseen for the future telecommunications applications.
- Analysing the implications on space and ground segment design to support execution of end-of-life activities for each of the strategies identified (from the previous bullet), comparing the different ground and spacecraft conceptual architectures.
- Analysing the execution of both debris and inter-satellite CAMs during LEOP, orbit raising, routine phases and orbit lowering for mega-constellations.
- Deriving system and operational requirements on mega-constellations for end-of-life activities and [space debris](https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2023/07/04/some-very-interesting-statistics-on-orbital-objects-and-debris/) mitigation.
- Establishing a baseline scenario for an operational concept to handle space debris mitigation for mega-constellations.

![](https://i0.wp.com/newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/c4000119177fp-2-001.jpg?resize=696%2C392&ssl=1)

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![](https://i0.wp.com/newspaceeconomy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/c4000119177exs-2-01.jpg?resize=696%2C984&ssl=1)

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