Re: ESA has redefined de-orbit?
Well, I *would* put it down to a sloppy definition…..the EU are just in the process of signing off their EU Space Law, which will require to deorbit (really deorbit!), within 5 years not 25. It was supposed to be signed off in June actually, but it’s still waiting. This will involve the EU Space Commission (which is *not ESA*) have a new large regulatory role…..and of course a large budget. Copernicus (Sentinel) is an *EU* space program, no longer an ESA one. They don’t stick to their own rules……
As an aside, one of the big unreported stories is the new role in Space that the EU Commission has carved out for itself over the last fifteen years, separate to ESA. It’s a massive turf war. But the media and public just assume that ESA is part of EU; when it fact the EU Commission have spent the last fifteen years systematically sabotaging ESA programs and dismantling its role, in a power grab. The process really gained momentum with the unfortunate complicity of the previous ESA DG Dordain, who ruled until 2015, and made a deal with the devil. He really, really, really wanted Exomars to succeed, and to go down in history as the DG who sent Europe to Mars. He told the EU Commission that they could have absolutely everything so long as they left him Exomars. But of course, Exomars Rover never left the ground in the end. It’s so sad, because at least Dordain had a technical engineering background. His successor Worner was an irrelevant puppet of the Commission, with no aerospace background; and Aschbacher was brought on specifically to gift transfer the EU Commission the Copernicus program. There’s just no time for engineering among the power battles at court.