Space Debris White Paper
Space Launch, Inc.
March 12, 2009
ISS Astronauts Evacuate into Soyuz Because of Collision Threat.
NBC Nightly News (3/12, story 7, 0:30, Williams) reported, "There was a brief mayday...on board the International Space Station. The three astronauts living there had to evacuate into a module that serves as their emergency lifeboat after a piece of floating space debris came very close to hitting them inside the space station. The evacuation lasted 11 minutes. The grapefruit-sized piece of old rocket motor floated safely by, thankfully."
The Problem
Urgency for a Solution
•On Feb 10, an active Iridium satellite collided with an expired Russian spacecraft adding some 900 new debris pieces to the 17,000+ already in the catalog.
•This is the first known satellite-to-satellite collision.
•Debris pieces scatter among the highly populated orbital plane of Iridium (66 satellites + spares) adding additional risk of subsequent collision
–Don Kessler expects another Iridium type event in about 10 years.
–TS Kelso anticipates a high probability of another collision within months.
•Debris will pose a heightened threat to a few hundred satellites and the manned International Space Station for years to come!
The “Do Nothing” Solution – The Kessler Syndrome
Attempts to Address the Problem
Potential Funding Sources
The Space Trash Collector
March 12, 2009
ISS Astronauts Evacuate into Soyuz Because of Collision Threat.
NBC Nightly News (3/12, story 7, 0:30, Williams) reported, "There was a brief mayday...on board the International Space Station. The three astronauts living there had to evacuate into a module that serves as their emergency lifeboat after a piece of floating space debris came very close to hitting them inside the space station. The evacuation lasted 11 minutes. The grapefruit-sized piece of old rocket motor floated safely by, thankfully."
The Problem
Urgency for a Solution
•On Feb 10, an active Iridium satellite collided with an expired Russian spacecraft adding some 900 new debris pieces to the 17,000+ already in the catalog.
•This is the first known satellite-to-satellite collision.
•Debris pieces scatter among the highly populated orbital plane of Iridium (66 satellites + spares) adding additional risk of subsequent collision
–Don Kessler expects another Iridium type event in about 10 years.
–TS Kelso anticipates a high probability of another collision within months.
•Debris will pose a heightened threat to a few hundred satellites and the manned International Space Station for years to come!
The “Do Nothing” Solution – The Kessler Syndrome
Attempts to Address the Problem
Potential Funding Sources
The Space Trash Collector
