ODQN 11-1.Indd

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Orbital Debris Quarterly News Volume 11, Issue 1 January 2007 Orbital Debris Mitigation Re-emphasized in the New U.S. National Space Policy On 31 August 2006, President Bush signed the February 2001 after consultations with industry. Inside... new U.S. National Space Policy, almost exactly ten The 2006 National Space Policy recognizes years after President Clinton approved the previ- these standard practices and the related commercial Signifi cant Increase ous such policy. The new policy again specifi cally regulations which have been developed by other in Satellite Breakups addresses the topic of orbital debris, refl ecting the U.S. Government entities since 1996: During 2006 ................2 progress made both nationally and internationally during the past decade. “Orbital debris poses a risk to continued reli- Delta IV Performs The fi rst U.S. National Space Policy to mention able use of space-based services and operations and Successful Controlled orbital debris was signed by President Reagan on 5 to the safety of persons and property in space and January 1988 and affi rmed that “All space sectors on Earth. The United States shall seek to minimize Reentry .......................3 will seek to minimize the creation of space debris. the creation of orbital debris by government and Publication of the Design and operations of space tests, experiments non-government operations in space in order to and systems will strive to minimize or reduce ac- preserve the space environment for future genera- 2003 Haystack and cumulation of space debris consistent with mission tions. Toward that end: HAX Radar Report .....3 requirements and cost effectiveness.” Two years later the George H. W. Bush Administration issued • Departments and agencies shall continue to A New Analysis on a new National Space Policy (16 November 1989) follow the United States Government Orbital the Size Estimation and expanded the section on orbital debris with the Debris Mitigation Standard Practices, consis- Model Pieces ..............4 following additional statement: “The United States tent with mission requirements and cost effec- Government will encourage other spacefaring na- tiveness, in the procurement and operation of Risk to LEO tions to adopt policies and practices aimed at debris spacecraft, launch services, and the operation Spacecraft Due minimization.” of tests and experiments in space; to Small Particle One of the direct consequences of the 1989 • The Secretaries of Commerce and Transpor- Impacts .......................5 National Space Policy was the formation of sepa- tation, in coordination with the Chairman of rate bilateral working groups between NASA and the Federal Communications Commission, Space Missions and the space agencies of Europe, Russia, and Japan. shall continue to address orbital debris issues Orbital Box Score ......7 These working groups were merged in 1993 to through their respective licensing procedures; form the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination and Committee (IADC). Today, the IADC has grown • The United States shall take a leadership role in to eleven members and is actively engaged in a vari- international fora to encourage foreign nations ety of joint research and information sharing (www. and international organizations to adopt poli- iadc-online.org). cies and practices aimed at debris minimization The Clinton-era National Space Policy (14 and shall cooperate in the exchange of informa- September 1996) reiterated the essential elements tion on debris research and the identifi cation of of the previous policy and called upon NASA, the improved debris mitigation practices.” Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. intel- ligence community to work with the private sector Orbital debris mitigation remains a high prior- to “develop design guidelines for future govern- ity for the U.S., which continues to promote scien- ment procurements of spacecraft, launch vehicles, tifi c research and the implementation of practical A publication of and services.” In 1997 NASA and DoD prepared countermeasures on a world-wide basis, especially The NASA Orbital draft U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation in coordination with the United Nations and the Debris Program Offi ce Standard Practices, which were offi cially accepted in IADC. ♦ Orbital Debris Quarterly News Signifi cant Increase in Satellite Breakups During 2006 Although no satellite breakups were detect- reentry burn about 900 ed for nearly a year during the period from June an hour and a half 2005 to the fi rst of May 2006, the remainder of after delivering its 2006 witnessed eight satellite breakups for a rate payload into a 850 800 of one per month. Not since 1993 had so many km, sun-synchro- breakups occurred in one year. Half of these nous orbit. How- 700 breakups occurred in the fi nal quarter of the year ever, sometime after and included one Japanese and two U.S. rocket orbital insertion and bodies and one Russian spacecraft. Fortunately, before the de-orbit 600 the debris from these latest four satellites, with maneuver, the stage ages ranging from less than one hour to more ejected all the afore- Altitude (kilometers) 500 than 17 years, should be relatively short-lived. mentioned debris in On 14 September 2006 the Russian Federa- a retrograde direc- Apogee tion launched Cosmos 2423 (International Des- tion (see fi gure). 400 Perigee ignator 2006-039A, U.S. Satellite Number 29402), The nature the eighth of a series of Earth observation space- of the debris and 300 craft which began in 1989 with Cosmos 2031. the cause of their 92 93 94 95 96 9798 99 100 101102 103 The nearly 7-metric-ton spacecraft normally op- release are not yet Period (minutes) erate between an altitude of 200 km and 350 km understood, but All debris from the Delta IV second stage was ejected in a retrograde direction. The graph for periods of up to four months. A distinctive an investigation is above depicts the orbits of 60 cataloged debris ten days after the event. The lowest period feature of this class of spacecraft is an apparent underway. The pri- piece has already experienced signifi cant orbital decay. detonation of the vehicle at the end of mission. mary objective is to identify the debris genera- been offi cially cataloged by the U.S. SSN, but Debris clouds with as many as 180 members, with tion mechanism and to implement any neces- more than 30 debris were being tracked. On a apogees as high as 1100 km, have been detected. sary countermeasures to prevent a reoccurrence positive note, the debris were decaying rapidly, Fortunately, the low altitude of these spacecraft on future Delta IV missions. Although the two despite their moderate altitude. Such behavior at the time of fragmentation leads to very limited debris thrown into the lowest orbits decayed suggests that the debris possess a high area-to- orbital lifetimes for the debris. quickly, the orbital longevity of the remaining mass ratio. Observations of the stage after the After a fl ight of 64 days, Cosmos 2423 debris might be signifi cantly greater, particularly event indicated that it was tumbling rapidly. Po- completed its mission on 17 November and under the current low level of solar activity. tential reasons for the breakup, including impact generated numerous debris, of which 28 were The surprise of the rapid fragmentation of by a small object, are under evaluation. quickly cataloged by the U.S. Space Surveil- the Delta IV second stage was matched by the The fi nal satellite breakup of 2006 involved lance Network (SSN) (Satellite Numbers 29604- 3 December breakup of a Delta II second stage the second stage of an H-2A launch vehicle 29631) before reentering the atmosphere. Some which had been dormant in a low Earth orbit (International Designator 2006-037B, U.S. Sat- debris were thrown into orbits with apogees of for 17 years. Moreover, the stage (International ellite Number 29394), which had been in orbit more than 850 km, but all known debris had Designator 1989-089B, U.S. Satellite Number for less than four months. At the time of the fallen out of orbit within 30 days. 20323), which had been used to launch NASA’s event, the rocket body was in an orbit of 430 While the fragmentation of Cosmos 2423 COBE spacecraft, had been passivated at the km by 490 km with an inclination of 97.2°. Less had been expected, the release of at least 62 de- end of its mission and, therefore, should not than 20 debris were detected by the U.S. SSN. bris by a Delta IV second stage (International have contained any energy sources that could The breakup bore several similarities with the Designator 2006-050B, U.S. Satellite Number have caused the breakup. At the time of the fragmentation of another H-2A second stage in 29523) soon after launch on 4 November was event, the ~900 kg stage was in an orbit of 685 August (Orbital Debris Quarter News, 10-4, p. 1). not. As reported on page 3 in this issue, this km by 790 km with an inclination of 97.1°. All the debris were expected to reenter within a rocket body successfully completed a controlled By the end of December, no debris had relatively short time. ♦ 2006 NASA Orbital Debris Colloquium The NASA Orbital Debris Program Of- After a brief introduction and some real ond presentation by Lauri Newman, also from fi ce at Johnson Space Center hosted a NASA world examples of operational debris concerns Goddard, showcased procedures for “Close Ap- Orbital Debris Colloquium on 14-15 Novem- presented by Gene Stansbery, Nicholas Johnson proach Evaluation and Avoidance Process for ber 2006 attended by about 30 government and presented a review of national and international the Earth Science Constellation Missions.” contractor personnel. The primary topic of policies on orbital debris.

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