I don't believe this is quite correct. The last few trips are actually orbital, just not of the correct elliptical shape to do more than a half orbit as the perigee is less than the radius of earth. If earth was a point mass, it would have orbited.
This means you don't have to do anything to deorbit while proving you could have made a full orbit if you wanted to.
This means you don't have to do anything to deorbit while proving you could have made a full orbit if you wanted to.