Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- SECTION I INTRODUCTION
- SECTION II DEFINING THE PROBLEM
- SECTION III MITIGATION OF AND ADAPTATION TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT: TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES
- 9 Precluding Post-Launch Fragmentation of Delta Stages
- 10 U.S. International and Interagency Cooperation in Orbital Debris
- 11 ESA Concepts for Space Debris Mitigation and Risk Reduction
- 12 Space Debris: How France Handles Mitigation and Adaptation
- 13 Facing Seriously the Issue of Protection of the Outer Space Environment
- 14 Space Debris – Mitigation and Adaptation
- 15 Near Earth Space Contamination and Counteractions
- 16 The Current and Future Space Debris Environment as Assessed in Japan
- 17 Orbital debris Minimization and Mitigation Techniques
- SECTION IV ECONOMIC ISSUES
- SECTION V LEGAL ISSUES
- SECTION VI A MULTILATERAL TREATY
- SECTION VII PANEL DISCUSSIONS
17 - Orbital debris Minimization and Mitigation Techniques
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- SECTION I INTRODUCTION
- SECTION II DEFINING THE PROBLEM
- SECTION III MITIGATION OF AND ADAPTATION TO THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT: TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES
- 9 Precluding Post-Launch Fragmentation of Delta Stages
- 10 U.S. International and Interagency Cooperation in Orbital Debris
- 11 ESA Concepts for Space Debris Mitigation and Risk Reduction
- 12 Space Debris: How France Handles Mitigation and Adaptation
- 13 Facing Seriously the Issue of Protection of the Outer Space Environment
- 14 Space Debris – Mitigation and Adaptation
- 15 Near Earth Space Contamination and Counteractions
- 16 The Current and Future Space Debris Environment as Assessed in Japan
- 17 Orbital debris Minimization and Mitigation Techniques
- SECTION IV ECONOMIC ISSUES
- SECTION V LEGAL ISSUES
- SECTION VI A MULTILATERAL TREATY
- SECTION VII PANEL DISCUSSIONS
Summary
ABSTRACT
Man's activity in space has generated significant amounts of debris that remain in orbit for periods of sufficient duration to become a hazard to future space activities. Upper stages and spacecraft that have ended their functional life are the largest objects. In the past, additional debris has been generated by inadvertent explosions of upper stages and spacecraft, by intentional explosions for military reasons, and possibly by a few breakups resulting from collisions. In the future, debris can be generated by collisions among spacecraft as the number of orbital objects continues to grow at rates greater than natural forces remove them from orbit.
There are design and operations practices that can minimize the inadvertent generation of debris. There are other design and operations options for removing objects from space at the end of their useful service so they are not available as a source for the generation of future debris. Those studies are the primary concern of this paper.
The issues are different in the low Earth orbits and in the geo-synchronous orbits. In low Earth orbit, the hazards generated by potential collisions among spacecraft are severe because the events would take place at such high velocities. In geosynchronous orbit, the collision consequence is not so severe, because the relative velocities are low – less than 1 km/s.
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- Preservation of Near-Earth Space for Future Generations , pp. 132 - 144Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994