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Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) is a promising propulsion concept for Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). Spacecraft (S/C) operating at lower altitudes has higher coverage and resolution. However, the rarefied gas causes drag on the S/Cs, so the propulsion is needed to overcome the drag. The ABEP system captures the rarefied ambient gas as the propellant, and collecting the gas efficiently by intake is significant for the ABEP application. Given the flow regime of ambient gas is free molecular flow, the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is used for numerical investigation in this paper. The intake schemes of three geometric configurations under three reflection models are proposed and simulated. The operating characteristics of different schemes are analyzed and the performance parameters are obtained. Based on the analysis results, an optimized intake scheme is proposed, achieving the compression ratio of 183.8 and capture efficiency of 74%. • Intake device: A passive mechanical, simple and feasible, low cost and high payload. • Collects and uses planet's atmosphere as propellant at very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO). • An optimized intake scheme is put forward, achieving the compression ratio of 183.8 and capture efficiency of 74%. • The DSMC method is used to analyze the performance of intake device, accurately and quickly. • The intake optimized can improve the performance of ABEP system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]