Design-for-Demise Dilemma: MaiaSpace paper flags unintended consequences of smallsat burn-up strategy
A paper by Antoinette Ott and Christophe Bonnal of MaiaSpace argues the Design-for-Demise principle — letting most small satellites burn up at end-of-life — creates unintended consequences for orbital sustainability and operations, calling into question disposal assumptions used for current megaconstellation deployments.