Via Satellite reports, “U.S. Space Command confirmed that a defunct Russian satellite broke up in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on Wednesday, creating more than 100 pieces of debris. Space Command said the breakup took place on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. MT. It was not clear why the satellite broke up, such as if it was the result of an anti-satellite test.”
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Tag: Orbital Debris
Odin Space Prepares to Begin Detecting Orbital Debris
Space News reports that Odin Space is “preparing to start detecting tiny but potentially dangerous pieces of orbital debris in the coming weeks from a sensor on a recently launched space tug.” The venture announced “that it had successfully powered up the demo sensor, integrated with D-Orbit’s small satellite-carrying ION orbital transfer vehicle that SpaceX launched earlier this month to low Earth orbit.” The sensor’s sensitivity “is cranked up high to detect background vibrations from the host satellite to test core systems, but will be tuned for detecting surrounding debris as small as one-tenth of a millimeter.”
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Threat of Space Junk Increases as Government and Investors Find Workarounds
Reuters reported that a growth in space debris “has led the U.S. government to attempt to set new space hygiene norms, while private companies are also investing in ways to tackle the messy orbital environment.” Thousands of commercial satellites “are being launched into Earth’s orbit at a record pace, driving up the risk of collisions that could spawn swarms of hazardous debris.” US Space Command released a formal list Friday “of what it views as responsible space behaviors, in a bid to steer military norms in orbit.”
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Gen. Thompson Says Space Force Supports Paying Commercial Companies to Remove Orbital Debris
Space News reports that US Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson “said it would make sense for the government to pay companies to clean up space junk if such services existed.” Orbital debris “represents a risk to spacecraft and to safe operations in space, Thompson said March 16 in an interview with national security analyst John Nagl, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.” Thompson said, “The more we can depend on commercial space for routine activities like transportation and debris removal, the more we can focus on national security.”
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Thompson Says Civilian Agency Should Manage Space Congestion
Space News reports that US Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson said in an interview that he would prefer a civilian agency take over space management activities. Collision “warning duties are expected to transition to the Department of Commerce by 2024 but there are other issues that a civilian agency should be taking on, Thompson said, such as managing activities so they don’t create hazards, setting guidelines for how satellites should maneuver, or what happens when spacecraft exceed their lifetimes.” Thompson said, “Obviously, the DoD wants a voice in that, in terms of what it means to us. We’ll have to play our role, whatever it needs to be, but it’s definitely time for an agency responsible for regulation and regulatory rules and norms to take a more active role, for both the United States but also in dealing with international bodies.”
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Astroscale, New Zealand Partner on Orbital Debris Removal
Space News reports that Astroscale “signed an agreement with the government of New Zealand Nov. 10 to study advanced concepts for orbital debris removal.” The agreement “broadly covers cooperation on space safety and sustainability, with an initial project examining approaches for a single servicing spacecraft to remove up to three debris objects on a single mission.”
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NSTC Interagency Panel to Update National Orbital Debris R&D Plan
Space News reports that the US government’s orbital debris R&D plan is to be updated by “an interagency group within the National Science and Technology Council that deals with national security and space issues.” However, former SpaceX Vice President of Government Affairs Patricia Cooper said at 2021 ASCEND that “there are internal disagreements in the US government about how to deal with orbital debris,” adding that “cooperation [is also needed] from other nations that launch satellites into space.”
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AIAA Statement on New U.S. Position on Destructive Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Missile Testing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“We applaud the administration’s commitment to not conduct direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile tests and call for other spacefaring nations to follow this new international norm for responsible behavior in space. This comes following the Russian Federation’s reckless and irreversible ASAT test last fall, which created more than 1,500 pieces of debris that threatens national security and commercial assets and those aboard the International Space Station. Such a declaration will help preserve the security and sustainability of space going forward. The United States is leading by example, and we hope other nations will make the same commitment to work together and conduct space activities in a responsible, peaceful, and sustainable manner.
AIAA continues to call on the U.S. Congress to address the worsening orbital debris problem, as well as establish a domestic civil space traffic management function before a catastrophic event takes place. We believe this would provide stability and certainty so that the commercial sector can continue to innovate and experiment with new ventures that create a robust space economy.”
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, AIAA, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
FAA Proposes New Rule to Reduce Space Debris
UPI reports that SpaceX “launched 22 satellites for its Starlink ‘constellation’ into low-Earth orbit late Saturday night as the Federal Aviation Administration proposed a new rule to reduce space debris from commercial flights.” The FAA said in a statement that limiting debris will “reduce the potential for collisions with spacecraft and satellites to promote a sustainable space environment,” and added, “If left unchecked, the accumulation of orbital debris will increase the risk of collisions and clutter orbits used for human spaceflight and for satellites providing communications, weather and global positioning system services.” The proposed rule “would require companies like SpaceX to dispose of the upper stages of their rockets in one of five ways.” Companies would be “required to either conduct a controlled entry, move the upper stage to a less congested storage or graveyard orbit, send the upper stage on an Earth-escape orbit, remove the upper stage debris within five years in a process called active debris removal, or perform and uncontrolled atmospheric disposal.”
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Tech Briefs Reports on 7 Space Sustainability Startups
Tech Briefs reports, “Approximately 8,000 metric tons of space junk now in orbit includes nearly one million individual pieces of debris that are potentially lethal to satellites, space missions, commercial space services, and human lives. With companies like SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb launching mega constellations, this number will continue to increase over the coming years.”
Full Story (Tech Briefs)