There’s a lot of talk these days about how best to deal with our growing space debris problem.
No single answer is likely to serve as a silver bullet, in part because the problem is global. In effect, space debris experts called it a “tragedy of the commons”.
This state of affairs is exacerbated by the increase in global launch rates, which is due in large measure to the assembly of mega-constellations of satellites like that of SpaceX. Stellar Link broadband network.
Related: Kessler Syndrome and the Space Debris Problem
Then there’s the associated clutter of dead or dying spacecraft, depleted rocket stages, and myriad other pieces of man-made remains, from the effluent spewed out by solid rocket engines to the nuts and errant bolts to splinters of droplet paint bubbling out of spacecraft cooling systems, some of them radioactive. And throw in, for good measure, shards of satellites destroyed in anti-satellite tests.
In short, it’s a heavenly mess – with long-term consequences.
“With nearly 5,000 operational satellites and over 30,000 pieces of traceable debris, the ability to operate safely in space is becoming increasingly difficult,” said Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, in a press release. (opens in a new tab) last month.
big ambition
For many years, many ideas have been put forward to clean space environmentincluding fishing nets, harpoons, laser blasts, deorbit tethers, solar sails, and grappling hooks by spacecraft equipped with robotic arms.
However we are able to do it, “taking out the trash” in orbit would guide us towards the sustainability of space – the ability of all space nations to continue to use outer space for the benefit of all.
It is a noble ambition, yes, but it is one that is addressed by the Orbital Sustainability Act of 2022 (opens in a new tab) (ORBITS Act), which was introduced in the US Senate on September 12. The bipartisan bill seeks to “establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris” and “requires the development of uniform orbital debris standard practices to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment.”
Then there’s action by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop new rules to reduce the risks caused by orbital debris, reducing the time defunct satellites stay aloft. . The FCC recently voted to phase out low Earth orbit satellites within five years, not 25 years as previously recommended to satellite operators.
“The changes made appear to be a step in the right direction,” said Don Kessler, a now-retired senior NASA scientist who did pioneering research on orbital debris. Indeed, the Kessler syndrome – a dreaded cascade of space junk collisions that would generate ever more orbital clutter – is named after him.
“The FCC could become the regulatory agency that ensures NASA guidelines are followed,” Kessler told Space.com. “Shortening the ’25-year rule’ to five years would be a significant improvement, given the large number of low Earth orbit constellation operators who have said they could easily meet a five-year rule. The FCC will need NASA debris models to predict the outcome of any proposed changes.”
Related: Space Debris Cleanup: 7 Wild Ways to Destroy Orbital Debris
Be clear about the situation
The FCC adopting a five-year rule for bringing things out of orbit would be “a step in the right direction,” said TS Kelso, senior research astrodynamicist for Analytical Graphics, Inc. and Space Debris Authority official. for the Center for Space Standards and Innovation in Colorado Springs and Wailuku, Hawaii. However, he added, “it’s just not enough”.
“We need to change people’s attitudes about the space environment,” Kelso told Space.com. “While that seems like a somewhat ambiguous goal, we can’t really effect change without getting people to change their fundamental view of what should be done. Not how it could be done.”
It’s one thing to recognize that the pollution of the near-Earth space environment is bad, Kelso said, but it’s another to accept that we should change our behavior.
“Specifically, people – both inside and outside the space community – should recognize that we shouldn’t leave things in orbit after their mission is complete,” he said. “So a rocket used to launch a satellite must be removed once it has put its payload into orbit. The same goes for a satellite that has reached its intended end of life. Bring it out of orbit while it still has fuel and is controllable.”
Competitive phase
It’s important to take action against space junk now, say many experts, because Low Earth Orbit (LEO) will only become more crowded in the future.
“The LEO Constellation market is in the early stages of growth, with every indication that it will evolve into a dynamic market,” said Brad King, CEO of Orbion Space Technology in Houghton, Michigan.
“The benefits of LEO constellations are now undeniable. Early entrants such as Planet and SpaceX have shown that large constellations can be deployed and that satellites can bring disruptive and valuable benefits to the economy and global society,” King told Space. .com. “Once the planet gets used to these services from space, we will integrate them into our lives, and we will come to expect them and take them for granted.”
The market is now entering a competitive phase, King said, in which several companies will search for the right business model and learn from each other’s successes and failures.
“After this phase will come consolidation, where successful companies will merge and/or absorb less successful competitors, and then, finally, stabilization to a less dynamic list of companies that will become the long-term space providers,” a- he declared.
The biggest risks to space sustainability right now are orbital debris and traffic jams, King said. “Both can lead to collisions, which amplifies the problem,” he said. Orbion’s propulsion systems, he added, allow each satellite to maneuver during its mission and also to safely jettison when its time is up.
Both of these capabilities are important for preventing space collisions, while knowing where space objects are and sharing that information with other operators, King said.
Related: Launch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite megaconstellation in photos
The cost of doing nothing
How should dying spaceships crash down? There are several options, each with associated costs, Kelso said.
Using a high-thrust deorbit method would require extra fuel and the added weight of a larger engine, but would remove an object more quickly and likely in a controlled manner, Kelso said. Using a low-thrust method, he continued, may cost less upfront, but it leaves the object longer and presents an increased risk of collision, and the ability to control where to go. product re-entry is diminished, increasing the risk of damage to the Earth’s surface. .
“These risks and the potential consequences have to be weighed against the upfront costs. But there is also a cost to doing nothing and, as we are starting to understand, it will be more expensive to clean things up later than just prevent the problem in the first place,” Kelso said. “We should have learned it by now from all the other environments we’ve polluted.”
Disposal plan
In Kelso’s view, every launch should include a disposal plan for all objects it sends into orbit.
“Perhaps there is an incentive program to incentivize satellite operators and launch vendors to join their plan, such as a ‘security deposit’ that is made before launch, which is fully refundable if the plan elimination is executed as planned,” he said. .
The bottom line for Kelso is that, like the resources of air, land, and water, near-Earth space is not unlimited.
“Once people accept this and advocate a common sense approach to ‘packaging’ everything we ‘package’, getting launch vendors and satellite operators to work towards that goal should just become the right thing to do. “, did he declare. “Then the industry can innovate to figure out how best to achieve those goals.”
Leonard David is the author of the book “Moon Rush: The New Space Race (opens in a new tab)“, published by National Geographic in May 2019. A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) Or on Facebook (opens in a new tab).
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