National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Threat of Orbital Debris and

Protecting NASA Space Assets from
Satellite Collisions

28 April 2009

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Executive Summary

Collision avoidance processes are in place for all NASA human space flight
missions and for maneuverable robotic assets in low Earth orbit and within
200 km of the geosynchronous orbit.
Required by NASA Procedural Requirements 8715.6A (Section 3.4).

DoD screens for close approaches (conjunction assessments) and provides

miss distance and uncertainty information to NASA.

NASA computes the probability of collision, analyzes the risk, and makes
maneuver decision.

During 2008, this process led to five collision avoidance maneuvers:

S p a c ec r a f t

M a n e u v e r D a te

O b je ct A v o id e d

A ura

2 6 - J u n -2 0 0 8

T R IA D 1 d e b ri s

C lo u d s at

2 0 - J u l- 20 0 8

D e l ta r o c k et b o d y d eb r is

IS S

2 7- A u g -2 0 0 8

C o s m o s 2 4 2 1 d e b r is

TD RS 5

1 -O c t-2 0 0 8

C os m o s 1 8 8 8

P A R A S O L (F ra n c e)

1 9- O c t-2 0 0 8

F e n g y u n -1 C de b r is

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Growth of the Satellite Population

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

2005

January 2009

1990

1995

>95% of Tracked Object

Population are Debris

2000
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

What is Orbital Debris?

Space debris encompasses both natural (meteoroid) and artificial

(man-made) particles.

Meteoroids are in orbit about the Sun, while most artificial debris are
in orbit about the Earth. Hence, the latter are more commonly referred
to as orbital debris.

Orbital debris is any man-made object in orbit about the Earth which
no longer serves a useful function.
Non-functional spacecraft
Abandoned launch vehicle stages
Mission-related debris
Fragmentation debris

For most size regimes, the flux of orbital debris within 2000 km of the
Earths surface already exceeds the flux of meteoroids.
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Recent Growth of Satellite Population

in Low Earth Orbit
The growth of the cataloged satellite population during the past 15 years
has been primarily influenced by Chinas ASAT test in January 2007.
5.E- 08

4.E- 08

Spatial Density (objects per km3)

Altitude of
Chinese
ASAT test

Site of 10
February
Collision

19 94
19 99
20 04

3.E- 08
20 09

2.E- 08

ISS
Altitude
Regime

1.E- 08

0.E+ 00
200

400

600

800

1 000

1 200

A ltitu de (km )

1 400

1 600

18 00

20 00

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Satellite Environment Characterization

NASA and DoD cooperate and share responsibilities for characterizing the satellite
(including orbital debris) environment.

DoDs Space Surveillance Network discretely tracks objects as small as 5 cm in low

Earth orbit and about 1 m in geosynchronous orbit.

Currently, ~14,000 officially cataloged objects are still in orbit.

Total tracked objects exceeds 19,000.

Using special ground-based sensors and inspections of returned satellite surfaces,

NASA statistically determines the extent of the population for objects less than 10
cm.

Number of debris in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)* 1 cm or greater exceeds 300,000.

The combined results are used for spacecraft and launch vehicle design and
operations.

Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) refers orbits ranging in altitudes from up to 2000 km above the Earths surface;
Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) refers to orbits at ~36,000 km above the Earths surface; at that distance,
an orbits the Earth in a 24-hour period.

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Collision Risks

Collision risks are divided into three categories depending upon size of
threat.

~ 10 cm and larger: Conjunction assessments and collision avoidance

maneuvers are effective in countering objects which can be tracked by the
U.S. Space Surveillance Network.
Collisions of this type are potentially catastrophic.

1 10 cm: Objects in this category are usually too small to track and too
large to shield against.
Collisions of this type can disable or disrupt a mission.

< 1 cm: Debris shields can be effective in withstanding impacts of particles

in this category.
Unshielded portions of satellite subject can lead to mission degradation or loss.

The greatest risk to space missions comes from non-trackable debris.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

U.S. Space Surveillance Network

Organized as:
Dedicated = primary

THULE
GLOBUS II
CLEAR

FYLINGDALES

Collateral = secondary
Contributing = contracted
services

CAVALIER
BEALE
SOCORRO

LSSC
CAPE COD
AFSSS

MOSS

COBRA DANE

EGLIN

MAUI &
MSSS

Kwaj
ASCENSION

DIEGO
GARCIA

Tracking Radar
Detection Radar

LSSC = Lincoln Space Surveillance Center

Millstone, Haystack, HAX
MSSS = Maui Space Surveillance System
(former AMOS/MOTIF site)
AFSSS = Air Force Space Surveillance System

Imaging Radar
Optical Telescope
Passive Receiver
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Space Shuttle Vulnerabilities

Potential Shuttle Damage

6.5

Window Replacement
EVA Suit Penetration
5.5

Radiator Penetration
RCC Penetration
4.5

TPS Tile Penetration

Cabin Penetration
3.5

Cargo Bay Damage

Goldstone Radars

Space Surveillance Network

2.5

Haystack Auxiliary Radar

Spacecraft
Surface
Inspections

1.5

Haystack Radar
0.5

0.001

0.01

0.1

1
Debris Diameter in Centimeters

10

100

1000

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Debris Environment for International Space Station

1.E+03
1.E+02

SSN
Catalog
ne arly
complete for
objects
greater than
10 cm

1.E+01

Flux (no/m2/year

1.E+00

2009

1.E-01

No SSN
tra cking data
for objects
smaller than 5
cm

1.E-02
1.E-03

Some SSN
data on
ob jects 5 1 0 cm

1.E-04

Imp acts by debris

smaller than 0.3 cm
not critical to ISS

1.E-05
1.E-06
1.E-07
0.00 1

0.01

0.1

Particle Diameter (cm)

10

10

100

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Evolution of NASA Collision Avoidance Process

NASA implemented a conjunction assessment and collision avoidance

process for human spaceflight beginning with STS-26 in 1988.
Initially based upon simple miss distance and a 4-km by 10-km by 4-km ellipsoid
(picture a protected football-shaped volume [keep out] around the Shuttle).

Before launch of the first element of ISS in 1998, NASA and DoD jointly
developed and implemented a more sophisticated and higher fidelity
conjunction assessment process for human spaceflight missions.
Also adopted by other USG national space assets.

In 2005, NASA implemented a similar process for selected robotic assets,

e.g., the Earth Observation System satellites in LEO and TDRSS in GEO.

In 2007, NASA Procedural Requirements 8715.6 extended the conjunction

assessment process to all NASA maneuverable satellites within LEO and
within 200 km of GEO.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Basic Conjunction Assessment and

Collision Avoidance Process

DoD maintains high accuracy satellite catalog on objects which pose a

threat to designated NASA space assets.
Lower fidelity, publicly available data (two-line element sets) are NOT used.

DoDs Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) is responsible for performing

conjunction assessments for all designated NASA space assets in
accordance with an established schedule, i.e., every 8 hours for human
spaceflight vehicles and daily Monday through Friday for robotic vehicles.
All objects tracked by SSN are considered: cataloged and uncataloged.

JSpOC notifies NASA (JSC for human spaceflight and GSFC for robotic
missions) of conjunctions which meet established criteria.
Data are exchanged 24/7 via direct links and telecon between JSpOC and JSC/GSFC.

JSpOC tasks SSN to collect additional tracking data on threat object to

improve conjunction assessment accuracy.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Basic Conjunction Assessment and

Collision Avoidance Process (continued)

NASA computes the probability of collision, based upon miss distance and
uncertainty provided by JSpOC.

Based upon specific flight rules and detailed risk analysis, NASA decides if
a collision avoidance maneuver is necessary.

If a maneuver is required, NASA provides planned post-maneuver orbital

data to JSpOC for screening of near-term conjunctions. This process can
be repeated if planned new orbit puts the NASA vehicle at risk of future
collision with the same or another space object.

In the case of a NASA robotic satellite, a second maneuver might be

required for the vehicle to resume its mission. This maneuver also would
be coordinated with JSpOC.

NASA also informs JSpOC prior to normal operational maneuvers to aid

future conjunction assessments.
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Debris Avoidance Maneuver Planning for

Human Spaceflight Operations

Debris avoidance maneuvers are planned when the probability of collision

from a conjunction reaches limits set in the Shuttle and ISS flight rules:
Probability > 1 in 100,000: Maneuver if it will not result in significant impact to mission
objectives.
Probability > 1 in 10,000: Maneuver unless it will result in additional risk to crew (reflight, additional spacewalk, etc.).

Debris avoidance maneuvers are usually small and occur from one to
several hours before the time of the conjunction.
Shuttle can plan and execute a debris avoidance maneuver in a matter of hours.
ISS requires around 30 hours to plan and execute a debris avoidance maneuver,
mainly due to dependence on Russian propulsion assets.

Both the Shuttle and ISS have conducted several collision avoidance
maneuvers during the past 10 years.
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