Plasma Brake for Space Debris Mitigation

The concept of Plasma Brake is based on the ionospheric plasma Coulomb drag. It is analogous to the air drag in the neutral atmosphere. The dragging obstacle against the orbital plasma RAM flow is established by an electrostatic field with a high voltage difference with respect to the ambient plasma, typically -1 kV. The potential structure is supported by a long 4-wire tether with single aluminium wires with thickness of less than 50 um. The redundant structure makes the tether resilient against micro-meteoroids. The tether deployed by the Plasma Brake is stabilised by the gravity gradient. As the negative tether is attracting plasma ions, a current system between the tether and the ambient plasma is set up. However, the required high voltage power system and its power consumption is such that the Plasma Brake can be considered as a passive debris removal system. In addition, the hair-thin tether sets no harm to other space assets based on micro-meteoroid and space debris flux models such as MASTER-2009. In this presentation, we overview the Plasma Brake plasma physics, deorbiting capabilities, past and future CubeSat in-orbit experiments, and technology development in ESA framework.