Topic Area B: Tracking and removing orbital debris

Statement (Introduction) of the topic:

As an important problem of modern era, orbital debris, is not only presenting a
threat to our Earth, therefore humankind, but also is endangering our galaxy.
The space, which's only a tiny part has been explored, have been transformed
into a dumping ground in a short period of 60 years.
Debris is considered as the remains of anything broken down or destroyed.
Space rocket and shuttle pieces, bolts, belongings of astronauts, expired
satellites, spacecraft contaminants are the samples of frequently encountered
space waste. The existance of more than 300.000 remnant pieces of rocket
engines and more than 9.000 technological debris on orbit at a distance of 2000
km altitude, is an indicator of the increase in potential threat for humankind.
Also, pollution that occurs, is negatively affecting the space missions and
promoting some researches on how to eliminate the space waste problem. These
swinging wastes are presenting a scattered image and more importantly are
imperiling astronauts with a possible result of death. A particle of 30 grams, by
hitting satellites and space stations with a valocity of 15.000 km per hour, can
produce an effect stronger than a strike of a truck which has the speed of 100
km per hour.
Moreover, according to NASA, even Earth is under danger. As it's recorded by
specialists, in last 50 years, everyday at least one space waste is falling down to
the Earth's surface. As reported by statistics, usually these wastes are falling into
the oceans but this situation is not reducing the danger. The real risk of the
objects fallling through the atmosphere getting a person on the ground lingers
since already 5400 tons of space junk has crash-landed on earth.
Key Terms:
NASA: National Aeronautics & Space Administration
ADR: Active Debris Removal
ISS: International Space Station
SSN: Space Surveillance Network
ASAT: Anti-Satellite Missile Test
LEO: Low Earth Orbit
GEO: Geostationary (Geosynchronous) Earth Orbits
RAAN: Right Ascension of Ascending Node (RAAN)
CODER: Center for Orbital Debris Education and Reasearch
ESA: European Space Agency
ESOC: European Space Operations Center
MM: Micrometeroid
NRC: National Research Council
JSpOC : Joint Space Operations Center
EPFL: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
S3: Swiss Space Systems
JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exloration Agency
ODPO: Orbital Debris Program Office (NASA)
COLA: Collision Avoidance
CONASS: Conjunction Assessment
ROSCOSMOS: Russian Fedaral Space Agency
SSAU: State Space Agency of Ukraine
UKSA: UK Space Agency
DLR: German Aerospace Center
ISRO: Indian Space Research Organization
ASI: Italian Space Agency
CNES: National Centre of Space Research
CNASA: China National Space Admininstration
CSA: Canadian Space Agency
KARI: Korea Aerospace Research Institute
 ODCWG: Orbital Debris Coordination Working Group.
ODCWG is one of the working groups of the International Organization for
Standardization' s Technical Committee
IADC: Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Comittee
Members: ASI, CNES, CNSA, CSA, DLR, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, KARI,
NASA, ROSCOSMOS, SSAU, UKSA
Kessler Syndrome: Collisional cascading or ablation cascade [proposed by
Donald J. Kessler (NASA scientist) in 1978]

Classification of Orbital Debris

Natural space debris is present in the space, dust that obscures much of milky
way can be given as an example.
Artifical space debris has continued to be generated throughout the space age.

Number of objects (artifical space debris) in Earth's orbit by object type

The three step increases in the population of the largest contributor,

fragmentation debris, which are the objects that have been created from other
objects already on orbit, are from 3 collisions. First and the second are
deliberate, the third accidental.
 Growth of the Future Debris Populations
The historical simulation in NASA's project LEGEND, which adopts a
deterministic approach to mimic the known historical populations ,examined the
population of 10 cm and larger objects in the near-Earth environment under the
condition that no new objects were placed into the environment.
The future projection component of LEGEND covers 200 years from the end
of the historical simulation.
LEGEND was completed in 2003.

Growth of the debris populations from the LEGEND simulation

The actual situation will likely be worse than the result because of the collision
events of 2007 and 2009 and the fact that additional mass continues to be
launched into space.
 Mass in Orbit

Historical Background:
Beginning with the launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957, man-made objects
have populated the skies around our planet. It's known that from that day on
over 4000 manned or unmanned space flights and explorations have been
performed. Currently there are 6.800 tons of space debris in LEO, 23.000
tracked objects, 26.000 untracked objects are threatening space assets.
 Time Scale
1957- Space exploration began with Sputnik.
1960- Space race came to the full roar between United States and the Soviet
Union.
NASA began sending probes for future human missions.
1965- Astronaut Ed White's glove was added to the space junk.
1970- First decade of true interplanetary exploration started with the launch of
Pioneer and Voyager to the outer solar system.
1975- Debris problem was understood, widespread ASAT had tried to be
ended.
1979- SkyLab (the first space station) skattered debris across Indian Ocean and
parts of Australia.
1980- NASA and other U.S. Groups attempted to limit the growth of debris by
having the booster move away from its payload and vent any propellant
remaining in its tanks. This eliminated the pressure buildup in the tanks which
caused them to explode in the past.
1987- Conference held in Houston, Texas. Contributors include launch-system
operators from Western Europe and NASA, and people from orginaizations that
generate data pertaining breakups. Presentations focus on the options for
preventation of space debris.
1990- Japan and Europe ramped up their activity into space, joining China,
U.S. And Russian Federation.
NASA became the first orgnization to develop orbital debri mitigation policy
and guidelines.
1995- NRC was asked to form an international committee to examine the
orbital debris issue, drawing upon available data analyses to characterize the
current debris environment and to examine ongoing alleviation activities.
1996- Cerise (satellite) was hit by catalogued space debris, making the first
verified case of an accidental collision between two artificial objects in LEO.
1997- NRC have formed a committee on ISS Meteroid/Debris Risk
Management, drawing upon protecting the space station from meteroids and
orbital debris.
A DVD sized piece of metal, fell from the clouds and brushed the shoulder of a
woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Around the same time, a large 570 pounds
stainless steel tank landed next to a farmer's house in Texas. Both were pieces of
debris from a same stage of a Delta-II rocket that was launched 8 months before.
 Delta-II rocket pieces that has fallen to the Earth's surface

2001- NASA and the Department of Defense's effort to establish the U.S
Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standart Practices was approved.
2002- IADC established the first consensus on international orbital debris
mitigation guidelines.
2003- NASA’s long term environment model, LEGEND, or LEO-to-GEO
Environment Debris model, was completed.
2005- the Goddard Space Flight Center began using an approach, Conjunction
Assessment Risk Analysis, to provide collision avoidance information for
operational robotic spacecraft.
2007- China conducted an ASAT. This event is the largest recorded creation of
space debris.
The United Nations adopted a set of space debris mitigation guidelines similar
to IADC's established guidelines.
NASA required frequent satallite conjunction assessments for all of its
maneuverable spacecraft in LEO and GEO to avoid accidental collisions with
objects tracked by JSpOC.
United Nation's Scientific and Techinal Subcommittee of the Committee on the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space developed a set of guidelines to be followed by
"member states and international organizations" to help tackle current and future
issues with debris generation.
2009- Two articial satellites, Kosmos-2251 (Russian military communications
satellite) and Iridium 33 (American-made satellite), collided and scattered
debris. This event is the first accidental inter-satellite collision in LEO.
2011- NASA said that 22.000 objects were being tracked.
NRC made a press a release on Need for Orbital Debris Strategic Plan and
formed a committe for the Assessment of NASA's Orbital Debris Programs.
A report by the U.S. National Research Council warned NASA that the amount
of orbiting space debris was at a critical level.
2012- EPFL announced the Clean Space One project.
ESA designed e.Deorbit, a mission to remove large space debris from Earth's
orbit.
2014- Japan's JAXA program launched a test "space net" satellite as an
operational test.
2015- NASA executed (or assisted in the execution) of 26 collision avoidance
maneuvers by robotic spacecraft.
ISS conducted 4 debris collision avoidance maneuvers.
United States Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13
exploded on orbit, creating debris objects.
2016- A Long March 7 (rocket booster) created a fireball visible from some
states of USA. Its disintegration was widely reported on social media.

Position in Prevention of Space Debris

Space situational awareness, is considerable amongst world's space
communities, countries and companies, nonetheless space waste problem is yet
to be solved comprehensively, leading people to a solution hunt.
The Russian rocket company Energia proposes complete cleansing with the $2
billion worth spacecraft, capable of sweeping the orbital space around Earth
from satellite debris by collecting and sinking about 600 defunct satellites into
the ocean subsequently. In addition, Energia is working on developing an
"interceptor" spacecraft using similar technology, which would be capable of
derailing any incoming outer-space projectiles towards Earth by change their
trajectory.
Another Tokyo-based company, Nitto Seimo Co., which manufacters fishing
equipment, teamed up with JAXA to solve space junk problem. They are
planning to "fish out" space junk by extending a magnetic net-like tether by
using a robotic arm that will be extended from ISS, as a part of an international
cleanup effort. The Company spent $195.000-$295.000 and wants a working
prototype by 2025.
 Besides, Austrailian scientists from Canberra-based EOS Space Systems are
trailing a new system that uses laser technology to better track orbital space junk
since radar systems are expensive, noisy and mostly inaccurate. The laser
systems will provide real-time tracking of orbits with high accuracy.
Likewise, United Kingdom's Surrey Space Station developed a credible
solution, a low-cost project, REMOVEDEBRIS. The project with the ultimate
goal of protecting space assets and minimizing the collision risk of space
missions, aims to demonstrate key technologies of ADR, releasing a
microsatellite called RemoveSAT to capture and deorbit two space debris targets
then drag it back sown towards earth, where it will burn up in the atmosphere.
It's expected to be launched by international scientists in early 2017, promising
to be the world's first mission to test out a space litter-picker.
Another Project e.Deorbit, operated by ESA, is an ADR mission, at around
1600 kg, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of the space industry on
Earth and space, as a part of Clean Space initiative. It was designed to target
debris items in well-trafficked polar orbits, between 800 km to 1000 km
altitude. The launch is planned for 2021.
A space pac-man satallite project Clean Space One was advanced by EPFL's
Space Engineering Center (eSpace) also. The current design envisions a satellite
that will deploy a net around a piece of debris and close down once it has
captured the target. Launch is scheduled for 2018. S3 will invest about $16
million in this cleanup system.
Moreover, ordinary enthusiasts, scientists, have executed an affordable micro
satellite with a special aerobreaking system. Name of the project is MAYAK. It's
a debris prevention system that's scheduled to launch on 28 th of October 2017.
MAYAK will conduct orbital tests of deployable aerobreaking device so that
spacecraft will significantly rise to drag and speed up decay. Aerobreaking will
allow to lower spacecraft's orbital time from a year to one month. During orbit,
a delacate system 20 times thinner than human hair, coded with even thinner
layer of aliminum, will unfold within the satellite to slow it down. All the
MAYAK's project data will be publised for open acces.

Previous Resolutions
NSS's position paper on Orbital Debris: Overcoming Challenges, May 2016,
NSS recommended that "all spacefaring powers commit to limiting future
orbital debris and to cleaning up existing orbital debris as soon as possible".
 Spacecraft Systems and Operations Subcommittee of the Committee
International Organization for Standardization formed ODCWG at the May
2003 Plenary Meeting. The text of the resolution is as follows:
Recognising that;
• Mitigation of Orbital Space Debris is an issue of international concern and
embraces many interests and areas of expertise.
• ISO is responsible for developing internationally recognised standards, on a
consensus basis, for implementation through contractual agreement or National
or International regulation.
• A comprehensive and cohesive system of implementation standards is
essential to achieve orbital debris mitigation objectives.
ISO TC20/SC14 undertakes, through the ODCWG, to develop appropriate
international standards for implementation of orbital debris mitigation
objectives and to co-ordinate these activities with all parties that have an
interest in mitigation of orbital debris.
The terms of reference for the ODCWG state that the aims of the group are as
follows:
Aims
The ODCWG shall;
• Provide a focus for the development of implementation standards associated
with the mitigation of Orbital Space Debris within ISO TC20/SC14.
• Co-ordinate and manage the development of standards within the
international framework of TC20/SC14 and its established Working Group
structure.
• Undertake co-ordination of standards development with all parties involved
in or impacted by debris mitigation objectives both directly and through the
Working Group convenors and Project Leads charged with the development of
specific standards.
The U.S. National Space Policy of 2006 and 2010 directs agencies and
departments to implement the U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation
Standard Practices
 Control of debris released during normal operations
 Minimizing debris generated by accidental explosions
 Selection of safe flight profile and operational configuration
 Postmission disposal of space structures
 Many major spacefaring nations have established orbital debris mitigation
policies similar to the U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard
Practices.
The International Space Community needs to follow the existing mitigation
guidelines to better preserve the nearEarth space environment for future space
operations .
Below are listed some points in which Australia has taken a role in space
debris:
 Support, help develop and monitor compliance with UN COPUOS
(Committee for then Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) mitigation guidelines.
 Support the establishment of space object monitoring and space debris
research in Australia. Two facilities for space object monitoring have in fact
been set up in Western Australia in the 2009-2010 time frame, one by the US Air
Force and one by the University of Western Australia.