Large Debris Dragging and De-Orbiting by the VEGA Launcher Using a Tether

Thanks to limited adaptations - additional propellant tanks, addition of a small probe, few SW and Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) modifications - the launcher VEGA can be shown to be suited in terms of performances, safety and costs to a de-orbiting mission. Such a mission consists of three main phases: rendezvous, capture and de-orbiting. Focused on the last phase, this work presents the adaptation of GNC algorithms to realize the de-orbiting of a debris dragged by VEGA by means of a tether.