National Aeronautics and Space Administration

USA Space Debris Environment and Operational Updates

Presentation to the 47 th Session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space United Nations

8-19 February 2010 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Presentation Outline

• Evolution of Low Earth Orbit Satellite Population

• Space missions in 2009

• Collision Avoidance Maneuvers

• GEO Population and Retirement of USA GEO Spacecraft in 2009

• Satellite Fragmentations in 2009

• Inspection of Hubble Space Telescope

• First International Conference on Orbital Debris Removal

2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Growth of the Cataloged Satellite Population in Low Earth Orbit: Numbers of Objects • The number of cataloged objects in low Earth orbit has increased 62% since 1 January 2007.

12000

11000 Total Objects Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 Collision Fragmentation Debris 10000 Spacecraft 9000 Mission -related Debris Destruction of Fengyun-1C 8000 Rocket Bodies

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000 Number of CatalogedCatalogedObjects Objects ofof NumberNumber 2000

1000

0 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Growth of the Cataloged Satellite Population in Low Earth Orbit: Mass of Objects

• Recently, the rate of mass growth in low Earth orbit has averaged 50 metric tons per year. (data below does not include ISS components) 2.5 Total Objects

Spacecraft

2.0 Rocket Bodies

Fragmentation Debris

Mission-related Debris 1.5 Mir De-orbit

1.0 Mass inin Orbit Orbit MassMass(millions(millions ofof kg) kg) 0.5

0.0 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

4 National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Space Missions of 2009

• Twelve NASA space missions were undertaken in 2009. Mission Launch Date Destination Other Objects Left in Earth Orbit One rocket body left in disposal orbit; reentered a fter NOAA 19 * 06 February LEO 2.5 months Kepler 07 March Heliocentric Orbit One rocket body left in disposal orbit between LEO and GEO STS-119 15 March LEO (ISS) No objects left in Earth o rbit

STS-125 11 May LEO (HST) No objects left in Earth orb it

PHARMASAT 19 May LEO Other objects assoicated with this flight are not NASA-related, but all will have short orbital lifet imes. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 18 June Lunar orbit No objects left in Earth orbit

LCROSS 18 June Lunar impact No objects left in Earth o rbit

GOES 14 * 27 June GEO One rocket body left in disposal orbit between LEO and GEO Three small payloads and three small debris left in STS-127 15 July LEO (ISS) low altitude, short-lived orbits STS-128 29 August LEO (ISS) No objects left in Earth orbit

STS-129 16 November LEO (ISS) No objects left in Eart h orbit One rocket body left in disposal orbit between LEO WISE 14 December LEO and GEO; one mission-related debris left in short- lived orbit * Spacecraft developed and launched by NASA for NOAA • All spacecraft, rocket bodies, and mission-related debris residing in or passing through LEO have already reentered or will reenter within 25 years.

5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Orbital Debris Collision Avoidance

• Since 2007 NASA has required all of its maneuverable spacecraft in LEO or GEO to conduct satellite conjunction assessments on a routine basis to avoid accidental collisions with resident space objects.

• During 2009 NASA conducted eight collision avoidance maneuvers and assisted France with a collision avoidance maneuver involving the PARASOL spacecraft. Spacecraft Maneuver Date Object Avoided

TDRS 3 27 Janaury Proton rocket body

ISS 22 March CZ-4 rocket body debris

Cloudsat 23 April Cosmos 2251 debris

EO-1 11 May Zenit rocket body debris

ISS 17 July Proton rocket body debris

Space Shuttle 10 September ISS debris

PARASOL (France)* 29 September Fengyun-1C debris

Aqua 25 November Fengyun-1C debris

Landsat 7 11 December Formosat 3D

* Operating in NASA-led Earth observation network

6 National Aeronautics and Space Administration GEO Population Assessment

• For many years NASA has been observing the GEO uncataloged debris population. Data suggest that the population of debris between 10 cm and 1 m is at least twice that of the cataloged population.

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

of a given size and larger larger andandsizesizegivengiven aa ofof 1,000 Cumulative Number of objects near GEO GEO nearnearobjectsobjects of of NumberNumber CumulativeCumulative 500

0 0.1 1 10 Size of object (meters)

7 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Disposal of USA GEO Satellites in 2009

• Eight USA civil GEO spacecraft conducted disposal maneuvers in 2009. Spacecraft International Designator Minimum Height above GEO Maximum Height above GEO SBS 6 1990-091A 335 395

INTELSAT 605 1991-055A 250 290

DIRECTV 1 1993-078A 340 390

INTELSAT 704 1995-001A 305 315

DIRECTV 3 1995-029A 340 380

GOES 10 1997-019A 335 355

ECHOSTAR 5 1999-050A 420 450

GALAXY 4R * 2000-020A 120 130

* This spacecraft suffered primary and secondary propulsion system failures prior to 2004.

All spacecraft except Galaxy 4R meet USA, IADC, and United Nations recommendations for GEO disposal and will not come within the GEO protected region during the next 200 years. • TDRS 1 also completed its mission in 2009 and will be placed in a compliant disposal orbit in 2010.

8 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Satellite Fragmentations in 2009

• Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 Collision :

Accidental collision on 10 February produced more than 2000 trackable debris. (update on next chart)

• Proton launch vehicle ullage motor :

Ullage motor from Cosmos 2139-2141 mission (1991-025) broke-up on 8 March. To date, 32 debris have been cataloged by the USA Space Surveillance Network; half have already reentered.

• Cosmos 192 :

This 42-year old spacecraft (1967-116) experienced a minor fragmentation on 30 August. Less than 20 confirmed debris; only three debris officially cataloged due to high drag coefficients, and all three had reentered within two months.

9 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Update on Iridium-Cosmos Collision

• One year after the accidental collision of Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251, more than 2000 large debris had been identified.

1800

1600 Apogee

1400 Perigee

1200

1000

(kilometers) (kilometers) Cosmos 2251 Debris 800

Altitude 600

400

200

0 85 90 95 100 105 110 115

Orbital Period (minutes) Iridium 33 Debris

10 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Inspection of the Hubble Space Telescope

• In May 2009, Space Shuttle Atlantis visited and successfully refurbished the Hubble Space Telescope.

• The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was removed and returned to Earth after 16 years in space.

• Numerous large impact features (green circles) had occurred since the last servicing mission in 2002 (red circles).

• Microscopic examinations have revealed nearly 700 hypervelocity impact features greater than 0.3 mm in diameter. WFPC2 Radiator (2.2 m long, 0.8 m tall)

11 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Inspection Instruments

• Keyence VHX-600 digital microscope (up to 5000x optical, 2D and 3D) – Records each impact feature’s shape, size, depth, and volume

• LAP CAD-Pro laser template projector

12 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Measuring Large Craters

Four Diameters: – Spallation Inputs – Bare metal – “Burned” metal – Lips or center

Two Depths: – Central crater depth – Paint thickness

Results

13 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Measuring Small Craters

Inputs Two Diameters: – Spallation – Center

One Depth: – Central crater depth

Results

14 National Aeronautics and Space Administration First International Conference on Orbital Debris Removal

• NASA and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last year co-hosted the first international conference dedicated to the subject of the removal of debris from Earth orbit.

• The conference was held in the vicinity of Washington, DC, and was attended by more than 275 persons from nine countries.

• More than 50 presentations examined International Conference on the technical, economic, legal, and Orbital Debris Removal policy issues associated with removing December 8-10, 2009 small and large debris in low and high altitude orbits.

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