USA Space Debris Environment, Operations, and ...02a - US - Slides - 2015 US Space Debris Presentation to STSC Created Date 2/9/2015 8:29:37 AM Keywords ()

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

USA Space Debris Environment, Operations, and Measurement Updates

J.-C. Liou, PhDChief Scientist for Orbital Debris

NASA Orbital Debris Program Office

52nd Session of the Scientific and Technical SubcommitteeCommittee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, United Nations

2-13 February 2015


2

Presentation Outline

• Earth Satellite Population

• Space Missions in 2014

• Spacecraft Disposals

• Satellite Fragmentations

• Collision Avoidance Maneuvers

• Satellite Reentries

• DebriSat, MCAT, and DRAGONS


3

Evolution of the Cataloged Satellite Population

• According to the U.S. Satellite Catalog, the number of 10 cm and larger objects in Earth orbit decreased slightly in 2014, driven by the decay of light weight fragmentation debris during high solar activities.

Destruction of Fengyun-1C

Collision of Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33

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Mass in Near-Earth Space Continued to Increase

• The material mass in Earth orbit continued to incre ase and reached a total of 6700 metric tons in 2014.

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World-Wide Space Activity in 2014

• A total of 90 space launches placed more than 180 s pacecraft into Earth orbits during 2014.

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Disposal of USA Spacecraft in GEO

• Five USA civil spacecraft completed operations in t he geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) in 2014.

• All were moved to disposal orbits above GEO in comp liance with UN COPUOS Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines to protec t the GEO region.

Spacecraft International Designator

Minimum Height above GEO

Maximum Height above GEO

Intelsat 706 1995-023A 334 km 364 km

AMC-5 1998-063B 241 km 292 km

Galaxy 26 1999-005A 331 km 392 km

DIRECTV 1R 1999-056A 355 km 390 km

XM-2 2001-012A 335 km 341 km


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Satellite Fragmentations During 2014

• Twelve minor satellite fragmentations were detected by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network during 2014. None of them cont ributed large numbers of long-lived debris to the near-Earth envi ronment.

CommonName

International Designator

Perigee Altitude (km)

Apogee Altitude (km)

DetectedDebris

Cause

Cosmos 1867 1987-060A 775 800 6 Unknown

Delta II 2nd Stage 1999-008D 635 840 6 Unknown

Cosmos 2428 2007-029A 845 860 17 Unknown

SOZ Ullage Motor 1994-076G 420 18,990 15 Propulsion

SOZ Ullage Motor 2008-046H 865 18,720 7 Propulsion

Cosmos 862 Deb 1976-105F 110 14,990 3 Aerodynamic

Titan 3C Transtage 1969-013B 35,970 37,130 5 Unknown

Iridium 47 1997-082C 776 779 10 Unknown

Haiyang 2A 2011-043A 965 965 4 Unknown

SOZ Ullage Motor 2010-007G 770 18,750 16 Propulsion

SOZ Ullage Motor 2007-052F 730 18,790 70 Propulsion

Iridium 91 2002-005A 776 779 4 Unknown


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Robotic Spacecraft Collision Avoidance Maneuvers

• Since 2007 NASA has required frequent satellite con junction assessments for all of its maneuverable spacecraft in LEO and G EO to avoid accidental collisions with objects tracked by the U.S. Space S urveillance Network.

• NASA also assists other U.S. government and foreign spacecraft owners with conjunction assessments and subsequent maneuve rs.

• During 2014 NASA executed or assisted in the execut ion of 21 collision avoidance maneuvers by robotic spacecraft.

– 2 maneuvers were needed to avoid debris from Fengyun-1C

– 4 maneuvers were needed to avoid debris from the collision of Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33


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• The International Space Station (ISS) has conducted 21 debris collision avoidancemaneuvers since 1999.

• During 2014, a record five debris avoidance maneuvers were executed.

ISS Collision Avoidance Maneuvers


10

Satellite Reentries in 2014

• More than 600 reentries of spacecraft, launch vehicle upper stages, and other debris were recorded by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network during 2014.

– Spacecraft: 86; upper stages: 49; debris: 467 (including 243 reentries of the Fengyun 1C, Iridium 33, and Cosmos 2251 fragmentation debris).

– The high reentry rate was due to the peak of solar maximum in 2014.

– The oldest spacecraft that reentered was NASA’s weather satellite TIROS-2, which was launched into a 619 km × 732 km orbit for a one-year mission in 1960.

• The total mass of the 2014 reentries was more than 100 metric tons.

• No accounts of personal injury or significant prope rty damage were reported.

TIROS-2


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Laboratory-Based Satellite Impact Experiments

• The “DebriSat” project is a collaboration among NAS A, the U.S. Air Force, The Aerospace Corporation, and the University of Fl orida for laboratory-based hypervelocity impact experiments on a represe ntative, modern LEO satellite and an upper stage mockup.

• The objective is to characterize the physical prope rties of impact fragments to improve satellite breakup models and space situa tional awareness.

X-band Antenna

50 cm

30 cm

Spectrometer

S-band Antenna

UHF/VHF Antenna

Divert Thruster

Optical Imager

Sun Sensor

Multi-Layer Insulation

Composite Body Panels

Deployable Solar Panels

Al alloy strap-on tanks (one on each side)

Stainless steel fuel lines

Al alloy tank

Delta-II Ti roll control thruster assembly


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Hypervelocity Impact Sequences

598 g projectile @ 6.9 km/sec

• Hypervelocity impacts of the two targets were succe ssfully carried out at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in April 2014.

• Fragment processing and measurements are currently underway.

570 g projectile @ 6.8 km/sec


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Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT)

• NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Air Force Research Laboratory are building a new 1.3-m debris telescope to be deployed on Ascension Island.– Groundbreaking for the observatory

occurred in October 2014.

– Operations will start in late 2015.

– The telescope will be operated remotely from NASA JSC.

• The low latitude of the site will permit observations of low inclination debris at all altitudes.– Debris as small as 10 cm in GEO

should be detectable.Ascension

Island


14

In-Situ Measurements of Small Debris

• NASA, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Naval Resear ch Laboratory, Virginia Tech, and the University of Kent (Great Br itain) are developing new technologies for in-situ measurements of small debr is from space.

• A new system, Debris Resistive/Acoustic Grid Orbita l Navy-NASA Sensor (DRAGONS), has been approved by the International S pace Station (ISS) Program for a 2017 deployment on the ISS.

• DRAGONS combines several particle impact detection principles to measure time, location, speed, direction, energy, a nd the size of each impacting particle to improve the environment defin ition for the millimeter and smaller debris population.

Planned locationfor DRAGONS

Documents

USA Space Debris Environment, Operations, and ...02a - US - Slides - 2015 US Space Debris Presentation to STSC Created Date 2/9/2015 8:29:37 AM Keywords ()