Solid State Gas Generator for Small Satellite deorbiter

We present the first MEMS Solid State Gas Generator (SSGG) for use as a deorbit technology, in conjunction with inflation balloons, for Small-Satellites (<180kg mass). The total system, named the Solid State Inflation Balloon (SSIB), is being designed as a simple, reliable, scalable, low-cost, non-propulsive deorbit system. Small-Sats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) are required, through multi-national understanding, to deorbit within 25 years. The SSIB enhances aerodynamic drag by inflating a balloon at the spacecraft's end-of-life. The SSGG is composed of a 2D addressable array of Sodium Azide (NaN3) crystals on a glass substrate. The crystals are contained in wells formed by a thick-film of epoxy (SU-8). Under each well is a resistive heater that is selectively addressed using Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) diode networks. When heated to above 350 °C, the NaN3 spontaneously decomposes to generate the N2 gas in time scales on the order of 10 milliseconds. Each well can be designed with a typical volume of 10⁻¹⁵ m³ to 10⁻⁶ m³ of NaN3. The effectiveness of the system has been numerically evaluated for 1U, 2U and 3U CubeSats. The deorbit time for these three spacecraft from a 550km altitude has been calculated to be 118, 236, and 355 days respectively, independent of initial inclination.