Delivery of a payload from an orbit by means of a space tether

This fourth chapter is devoted to the problem of payload delivery from an orbit to the Earth’s surface without expenditure of fuel, by means of a tether. Two essentially different schemes of deployment of tethers are considered. In one example, using the YES2 experiment, the high potential of this method of payload delivery is shown. Various abnormal situations which can arise in the course of cable deployment are viewed: wrong orientation of a spacecraft at payload separation, a tether jamming, breakage of a spacecraft’s attitude control system, and premature breakage of the tether.