SPACE DEBRIS – A PRISON FOR HUMANITY

WHAT IS SPACE DEBRIS

Conventionally space debris is a term which was given to naturally existing debris found in the solar
system like asteroids, meteoroids and floating dust and matter. However, with the introduction of
the orbital Debris Programme the term also now includes artificially created objects by man which
are floating around. This debris can be as large as a discarded rocket stage or as small
as a microscopic chip of paint.
As of January 2019, more than 128 million bits of debris smaller than 1 cm (0.4 in), about
900,000 pieces of debris 1–10 cm, and around 34,000 of pieces larger than 10 cm were
estimated to be in orbit around the Earth. Over 98 percent of the 1,900 tons of debris in low Earth
orbit (as of 2002) was accounted for by about 1,500 objects, each over 100 kg (220 lb).
The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but
especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and other spacecraft with humans
aboard.

NASA takes extensive efforts to avoid such collisions with pre-existing debris in space. They use a set
of guidelines which include each potential collision threat. These are part of a larger body of
decision-making aids which specify when the proximity of debris increases the risk of collision to the
extent that evasive action is needed.

WHERE SPACE DEBRIS IS FOUND

Low Earth Orbits (LEO) –

Unevenness in the Earths gravitational field cause these orbits to change from time to time which
means collisions can occur in any direction. For these reasons risk of collision related phenomena
like the Kessler’s Syndrome are most likely to occur in this region. A large enough collision cascade
can cause this region of space to become unpassable

Higher altitudes –

At higher altitudes, air drag is significantly lesser, thus orbital decay takes longer. The gravity
perturbations, atmospheric drag and radiation pressure from solar rays can bring down particles to
lower altitudes where they decay, but at high altitudes this may take a really long time. Although
these orbits are less commonly used than LEOs and the onset of the problem is slower, the numbers
are progressing rapidly towards the threshold

WHAT SPACE DEBRIS COMPRISES OF

Dead spacecrafts –

In 1958 US launched Vanguard I and till date the upper stage of its launch rocket is still in orbit. The
Union of Concerned Scientists has listed 902 operational satellites from a known population of
19000 large objects and about 30000 objects launched.
Soviet launched RORSAT, which was part of the naval surveillance programme floats dead in an
orbit. The satellite had a design flaw where the nuclear core was cooled by a loop of sodium
potassium alloy which would prove to be a potential issue when the satellite neared the end of its
life. While most satellites are boosted to a graveyard orbit, not all could be moved.

The deliberate destruction of satellites in orbit adds to a majority of such debris. US and the USSR
have conducted over 30 SAST tests followed by 10 from PRC and 1 from India.

Lost Equipment –

According to Edward Tufte’s book Envisioning Information, space debris includes all sorts of stuff lost
during manned and unmanned missions to space like gloves, cameras, thermal shields, garbage
bags, a toothbrush and a lot more

Boosters –

Much of the existing debris is due to upper stages of a rocket, which after entering orbit break up
due to unburned fuel. Now, launchers don’t require passivation other than NASA and USAF
launchers and usually don’t end up reaching orbit.

Weapons –

A past debris source was the testing of anti-satellite weapons. The vulnerability of satellites to debris
and the possibility of attacking LEO satellites to create debris clouds, has triggered speculation that it
is possible for countries unable to make a precision attack. An attack on a satellite of 10 tonnes or
more would heavily damage the LEO environment. On 20 February 2008, the US launched an SM-3
missile to destroy a US spy satellite carrying toxic hydrazine propellant. The missile was aimed to
minimize the amount of debris but failed to achieve the goal.

On 27 March 2019, Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi announced that India shot down one of its
LEO satellites with a ground-based missile. He stated that it was part of Mission Shakti which was to
defend the countries interest in space.

THREATS DUE TO SPACE DEBRIS

To spacecrafts –

Space junk is a threat to active satellites and spaceships and the increasing amount of this junk will
only make the orbit riskier and in the future, unpassable. Numerous satellites have been destroyed
by micrometeorites and orbital debris.

Un-crewed Spacecraft – Olympus 1 was struck by a meteoroid on 11th August 1993, and left adrift.
On 24th July 1996, the French microsatellite Cerise was hit by fragments of a Ariane-1 upper stage
booster which exploded on November 1986. May such incident have occurred and the probability of
occurrence is increasing with more and more debris being released into space.

Satellites have to frequently perform Collision Avoidance Manoeuvres which requires constant
monitoring of debris.

Crewed Spacecraft – from the early space missions NASA have been using NORAD to monitor flight
paths for debris. Window chipping and minor damage to thermal protection system tiles was already
common by the 90’s. The shuttles were later flown tail first to take debris load mostly on the cargo
bay. NASA’s study concluded that more than half the overall risk to Shuttles are due to debris and
other space junk. The ISS uses Whipple shielding to protect itself from minor debris. In case of larger
debris which may be a potential risk to safety of crew inside, evasive manoeuvres are carried out.
The crew is sheltered in the Soyuz in such cases where the risk is too high.

To Earth –

Although most debris burns up the larger ones can reach the ground intact. According to NASA an
average of one piece of debris has fallen back to Earth each day for the past 50 years.

In 1997 an Oklahoma woman was hit on the shoulder by a 10x13cm piece of blackened metallic
material confirmed as part of the propellant tank of a Delta II rocket. In the 2003 Columbia disaster,
large parts of the spacecraft reached the ground and entire equipment systems remained intact.
Around 83000 pieces along with remains of 6 astronauts were recovered in Hemphill, Texas. On 27th
March 2007, airborne debris from a Russian spy satellite was seen by a pilot while flying over the
Pacific Ocean from Santiago to Auckland.

Kessler Syndrome –

The Kessler syndrome, proposed by Donald J Kessler in 1978 is a scenario the concentration of LEO
objects will get high enough to trigger a cascade which will further increase the amount of space
debris and render space travel useless for many generations.

During the 1980s the US Air Force conducted an experiment to determine what would happen if
debris collided with other debris. The study showed that the result was different for micro meteors,
with large chunks of debris created which would still remain a threat.

In 1991 Kessler published ‘collision cascading’. Citing the USAFs experimental results he wrote that
almost all debris, even lightweight ones weighing around a kilo or more could destroy a spacecraft
when moving at speeds of about 10 km/s and this will create more such debris. These debris when
they exceed a certain critical density will trigger a cascading chain reaction reducing everything in
orbit to small objects thereby putting a stop to space travel for many generations to come.
Aggressive space activities like missile testing or a satellite could trigger this cascade in a period
much shorter than years.

MEASUREMENT AND TRACKING OF DEBRIS

The Defence Department maintains highly accurate satellite catalogues on objects in Earth’s orbit
which are larger than a tennis ball.

Using special ground-based sensors and inspections of returned satellites NASA statistically
determines the extent of the population for objects less than 4 inches in diameter. For any object
larger than this which cannot be shielded, evasive actions are carried out which are tracked by the
Space Surveillance Network.

Objects smaller than these are too small to track and large enough that debris shields cannot
withstand them. For these NASA has an elaborate set of guidelines that are used to assess whether
threat of the path is close enough to warrant necessary action.

From the ground, radar and optical detectors such as lidar are the main tool for tracking such debris.
Although objects smaller than 10cm have reduced optical stability, debris as small as 1cm can be
tracked. The NASA Orbital Debris Observatory tracks space debris with a 3m liquid mirror transit
telescope. FM waves reflect off debris and are used to track them. They serve as an early warning
system on spacecraft.

The US Strategic Command keeps a log of all known orbital objects using ground based radar and
telescopes, and a space based telescopes. Other data comes from ESA Space Debris Telescope, TIRA,
The Goldstone, Haystack and EISCAT radars. These are fed into the ESA Meteoroid and Space Debris
Terrestrial Environment Reference (MASTER) which gives a map of the existing debris.

Returned space hardware is also a valuable source of information on the directional distribution and
composition of the debris flux. The LDEF satellite deployed by mission STS-41C Challenger and
retrieved by STS-32 Columbia spent 68 months in orbit gathering debris data. The solar arrays of
Hubble, and the impact craters also serve as an important source of data and are used by the ESA to
validate the present models.

DEALING WITH SPACE DEBRIS

Around one tracked object per day has been dropping out of orbit for the past 50 years. In addition
to national atmospheric effects, corporations, academics and government agencies have proposed
plans and technology to deal with space debris, but most of these are theoretical and still are being
worked on before they’re actually put into effect.

Scholars also state that institutional factors which can be called ‘rules of the game’ are the greatest
impediment to the clean-up of this debris. There isn’t any commercial incentive since costs can’t be Commented [SV1]:
assigned to the polluters.

Growth Mitigation –

The uncontrollable growth can be slowed down and the odds of the Kessler syndrome can be
minimized if the spacecraft builders follow a few simple rules, according to the Space Safety
Coalition (SSC).

The SSC, a newly established group of space industry stakeholders, laid out these voluntary
guidelines last month in a document called ‘Best practises for the Sustainability of Space
Operations’.

Upper stage passivation by releasing residual propellants reduces debris from orbital explosions;
however not all boosters implement this. The UN committee for peaceful use of space published
voluntary guidelines which instantiated the requirement of a space license to launch in all
spacefaring nations.

There is a one-up, one-down launch license policy for Earth orbits, launchers would rendezvous with,
capture and deorbit a dead satellite from its orbital plane. Robotic refuelling of satellites which is
being experimented on by NASA is also a possibility in the future. Another way is to explicitly design
upper stage boosters to leave the rocket in a rapidly decaying orbit.

Self Removal –

Although the ITU requires dead satellites to move to a graveyard orbit at the end of their lives, this
doesn’t protect the orbital regions from debris. Rocket stages with enough propellant may make a
direct, controlled deorbit. This was done with the French Spot-1 satellite reducing its re-entry time
from 200 years to about 15.
Passive methods of increasing orbital decay rate of spacecraft debris have been proposed. Instead of
rockets, an electromagnetic tether could be attached at launch and the he end of it’s life the tether
would be rolled out to increase drag.

External Removal –

The biggest hindrance to action being taken for external removal of debris are the removal costs and
legal questions about ownership and authority. However a consensus of speakers at a meeting in
Brussels reported that the removal of debris is paramount in reducing the risk of future space travel.

Remotely controlled vehicles – This solution uses a remotely controlled vehicle to capture and return
debris to a central station. Once such system is Space Infrastructure Servicing. The SIS would be able
to push dead satellites into a graveyard orbit. A tug like satellite to drag debris into the atmosphere
where it burns up has also been researched. It creates a difference in potential between itself and
the debris and uses thrusters to drag itself and the debris to a safer orbit.

Laser methods – The laser broom uses a ground bases laser to ablate the front of the debris
producing a rocket like thrust which slows down the object. The momentum of the laser beam
photons could directly impart a thrust on debris sufficient to move it out of orbit. One drawback is
the potential degradation of the debris due to the photons which might cause it to further
disintegrate into numerous smaller fragments.

Nets and Harpoons – In 2014, JAXA launched a test ‘space net’ satellite. They experimented to pull
space junk out of orbit using a tether. The system failed to extend the tether but the idea caught on.
Harpoons are also being experimented which will latch onto larger debris and lower it to a lower
orbit where it will decay.

Automated Collision Avoidance –

ESA is preparing to use machine learning to protect satellites from the very real and growing danger
of space debris. They’re developing a collision avoidance system that will automatically assess the
risk and likelihood of in-space collisions, improve the decision making on whether or not a
manoeuvre is needed and send orders to at-risk satellites.

In-Orbit Servicing: Target Capture –

This would be the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of a satellite with the agility, capability and autonomy to
perform all kinds of complex tasks in space, such as refuelling high-value satellites reaching the end
of their lives, adding new equipment to them, or attaching to them to move them to new orbits. In
addition in could potentially be directed to take down dead satellites.

SPACE DEBRIS TRAINING PROGRAMME

To help tackle the challenge, ESA’s Education and Space Debris Offices are training the next
generation of space scientists and engineers, thanks to the Space Debris Training Course 2019, which
was held from 12 to 17 May 2019 at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility, ESEC-Galaxia,
Belgium. Attending were 30 university students from 14 different ESA Member States, as well as 16
online students, following the course via Livestream.

The primary goal was to give the students an introduction to the concept of space debris, why it is a
problem today, and what can be done about it. Content was delivered through technical lectures
given by ESA and external experts in the field. Complementing these was a group project in which
the students were divided into teams, each with a different mission profile. Tasks included making
their satellite design and operations concept compliant with the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines;
addressing for example collision avoidance; shielding the satellite, exploring risk-minimising re-entry
strategies; and finally performing the active removal of their satellite from orbit. To aid their efforts,
the students had the opportunity to use ESA’s DRAMA and MASTER software, developed and
routinely used by ESA’s Space Debris Office, as well as PIRAT, developed by Fraunhofer EMI, for
shielding computation.