Re-entry dynamics of high area-to-mass ratio objects in eccentric Earth orbits considering drag and solar radiation pressure

Abstract

The discovery of a new population of objects with high area-to-mass ratios (HAMR) in orbits near the geostationary ring has motivated recent research seeking to understand the behaviour of those debris under the influence of certain types of disturbances, such as solar radiation pressure and atmospheric drag. Based on a series of selection criteria, it was made from the NORAD catalogue a list of potential candidates for study. As we developed an orbital propagator that takes into account the major disturbances, it was possible to study the behaviour and variation of orbital parameters during decay of the HAMR objects. The results obtained for two cases studied exhibit the dynamic behaviour of all orbital parameters and show good agreement with the observed decay times.