An era is coming to an end as the Space Shuttle fleet is soon to be retired. SpaceX is one of the companies that teamed up with NASA to continue the space exploration program and maintain American leadership in space.
Read more about SpaceX and the Commercial Crew Development Program….
On April 27, 2011, a Soyuz-U launch vehicle with the cargo spacecraft Progress M-10M lifted off from Baikonur cosmodrome. Progress carries more than two tons of fuel, water, food rations, medical equipment, and scientific equipment to the International Space Station.
On April 26, 2011, a Soyuz-U launch vehicle with the Progress M-10M spacecraft rolled out to the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome.
 |
| Credits: NASA |
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has implemented the UN Space Debris Mitigation guidelines in a number of standards.
The standards prescribe requirements that are derived from already existing international guidelines, but they capture industry best practices and contain specific actions to be taken by hardware manufactures to achieve compliance.
The highest level debris mitigation requirements are contained in a Space Debris Mitigation standard. This standard defines the main space debris mitigation requirements applicable over the life cycle of a space system and provides links to lower-level implementation standards. It is also important to be able to assess, reduce, and control the potential risks that space vehicles that re-enter Earth’s atmosphere pose to people and the environment. The Re-entry Risk Management standard provides a framework that is useful in this regard.
The seven guidelines endorsed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), also known as the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of COPUOS, are:
“limit debris released during normal operations;
minimize the potential for break-ups during operational phases;
limit the probability of accidental collision in orbit;
avoid intentional destruction and other harmful activities;
minimize potential for post-mission break-ups resulting from stored energy;
limit the long-term presence of spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages in LEO after the end of their mission;
limit the long-term interference of spacecraft and launch vehicle orbital stages with GEO region after the end of their mission;”
The good news is that as of the end of 2010, most of the space faring nations have implemented regulations on space debris mitigation at the national level.
On April 5, 2011, SpaceX introduced Falcon Heavy, the world\’s most powerful launch vehicle. Falcon Heavy\’s first stage consists of three nine-engine cores and features propellant cross-feed from the side boosters to the center core. Falcon Heavy will deliver 53 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit.
 |
| Credits: CSA |
Canada is actively involved in space debris mitigation research and development activities. At the international level, Canada hosted the International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures from the Space Environment (ICPMSE) in May 2008, and contributed to the 37th Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Scientific Assembly in July 2008.
At the national level, the space debris research and development activities are coordinated by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which formed the Orbital Debris Working Group (ODWG). The group was formed in order to address a number of objectives:
“to increase the Scientific and Technical (S&T) knowledge and awareness of orbital debris in the space community;
to identify and encourage targeted Research and Development (R&D) in orbital debris and mitigation measures;
to identify and encourage development of orbital debris detection and collision avoidance techniques and technologies;
to promote Scientific and Technical (S&T) collaboration across Canada and with our international partners;
to identify Scientific and Technical (S&T) opportunities in relation to future potential missions which can directly benefit from the results of targeted Research and Development (R&D) and novel operational techniques, and develop and coordinate technical solution in Canada and with international partners; and
to establish and maintain technical liaison with our international partners in order to foster a sustainable space environment.”
The Canadian space debris mitigation research and development activities are focused on three main areas: hypervelocity impact facilities, debris mitigation and self healing materials, and spacecraft demise technologies. Hypervelocity impact facilities are facilities that are capable of accelerating projectiles to velocities of more than 10 km/s. Canada is developing an implosion-driven hypervelocity launcher facility. Such a facility could accelerate projectiles having a mass of 10 g to speeds of 10 km/s, facilitating meaningful impact studies. Self healing materials have the capability to initiate a self healing process after an impact, being an in-situ mitigation of space debris damage on board spacecraft. The Canadian Space Agency has supported the efforts to develop and test a self healing concept demonstrator. The spacecraft demise technologies ensure intentional and integral disintegration during re-entry, so that no debris reaches Earth. In this direction, studies that investigate various technologies that could be used to de-orbit micro- and nanosatellites have been conducted.
In Canada, the space operators and manufacturers are adopting the space debris mitigation measures on a voluntary basis. The Inter-Agency Space Debris (IADC) guidelines are used for monitoring activities to prevent on-orbit collisions and conduct post-mission disposal. There are also strict requirements integrated in its policies and regulations that address the post-mission disposal of satellites. For example, as required by the Canadian Remote Sensing Space System Act, space system manufacturers have to provide information regarding the method of disposal for the satellite, the estimated duration of the satellite disposal operation, the probability of loss of human life, the amount of debris expected to reach the surface of the Earth upon re-entry, an estimate of the orbital debris expected to be released by the satellite during normal operations by explosion, etc. There are also interesting recommendations made for the operation and post-mission disposal of satellites in Geostationary Orbits. The Environmental Protection of the Geostationary Satellite Orbit recommends “that as little debris as possible should be released into the geostationary orbit during the placement of a satellite in orbit”, and also that “a geostationary satellite at the end of its life should be transferred, before complete exhaustion of its propellant, to a super synchronous graveyard orbit”, where the recommended minimum re-orbiting altitude is given as 300 km.
Subscribe to blog posts using RSS