Abstract The growing amount of orbital debris is becoming a serious concern for space development activities. To remedy the situation, it is necessary to prevent new debris generation through highly probable post-mission disposal operations and remove existing large debris objects from crowded orbits. An electrodynamic tether (EDT) is a promising deorbit propulsion device for both purposes, as it is propellant-less in principle and thus simple and cost effective. An on-orbit EDT experiment called the Kounotori Integrated Tether Experiment (KITE) was conducted in early 2017 on the sixth H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-6) for demonstrating and raising the maturity of the core EDT technologies. In the KITE mission, EDT operation was planned using the combination of a bare tether (720 m long) and a field emission cathode (FEC). Although tether deployment was unsuccessful due to a mechanical malfunction of the holding & releasing mechanism of the end-mass, the FEC operated successfully throughout the mission period and demonstrated its capabilities in low Earth orbit (LEO). Another KITE device – an electrical potential monitor called LP-POM – also operated successfully from HTV launch to re-entry, obtaining engineering and scientific results. In addition to these experimental results, the lessons learned during the development process are meaningful for future EDT research and development.

中文翻译：

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KITE 回顾——H-II 转运车上的电动系绳实验——

摘要 越来越多的轨道碎片正成为空间开发活动的一个严重问题。为了纠正这种情况，有必要通过极有可能的任务后处置操作来防止产生新的碎片，并从拥挤的轨道上清除现有的大型碎片物体。电动系绳 (EDT) 是一种有前途的脱轨推进装置，可用于这两种目的，因为它原则上不含推进剂，因此简单且具有成本效益。2017 年初，在第六艘 H-II 传输飞行器 (HTV-6) 上进行了一项名为 Kounotori 集成系绳实验 (KITE) 的在轨 EDT 实验，以展示和提高核心 EDT 技术的成熟度。在 KITE 任务中，EDT 操作计划使用裸系绳（720 m 长）和场发射阴极 (FEC) 的组合。尽管由于末端质量的保持和释放机制的机械故障而导致系绳部署不成功，但 FEC 在整个任务期间成功运行，并展示了其在低地球轨道 (LEO) 的能力。另一个 KITE 设备——一种称为 LP-POM 的电位监测器——也从 HTV 发射到重返大气层成功运行，获得了工程和科学成果。除了这些实验结果之外，在开发过程中吸取的经验教训对未来的 EDT 研究和开发也很有意义。另一个 KITE 设备——一种称为 LP-POM 的电位监测器——也从 HTV 发射到重返大气层成功运行，获得了工程和科学成果。除了这些实验结果之外，在开发过程中吸取的经验教训对未来的 EDT 研究和开发也很有意义。另一个 KITE 设备——一种称为 LP-POM 的电位监测器——也从 HTV 发射到重返大气层成功运行，获得了工程和科学成果。除了这些实验结果之外，在开发过程中吸取的经验教训对未来的 EDT 研究和开发也很有意义。