A Solid-State Gas Generator Actuated Deorbiter for CubeSats

A solid-state actuated deorbiter for SmallSats and CubeSats has been developed, the Solid State Inflation Balloon deobriter (SSIB). The device reduces orbital lifetime by increasing the frontal surface area of spacecraft and thereby increasing drag in the upper atmosphere Surface area is increased by inflating a gossamer inflation balloon and this method can reduce orbital lifetime by over an order of magnitude, dependent on the size of the balloon. The balloon in inflated with a custom MEMS device, the Solid-State Gas Generator (SSGG), which creates dry Nitrogen gas on-demand by thermally decomposing Sodium Azide crystals. The SSGG consists of an array of individually addressable micro-heaters which provide the thermal energy to generate gas. The SSIB was developed and prototyped at the University of Arkansas under a development grant from NASA. Prototypes were tested at NASA Ames' Research Center and successfully passed thermal, vibrational, shock, and vacuum deployment testing.