WHAT IS SPACE DEBRIS

SPACE DEBRIS

WHAT IS SPACE DEBRIS?

About

Present Space debris are remnants of man made objects put into orbit about Earth.

They consist of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages and debris fragments from collisions or other events.

THREATS FROM SPACE DEBRIS:

· A threat to marine life: The say that large objects can be dangerous and cause pollution even when coming down over the oceans because 70% of earth is ocean surface.

· Danger for Operational Satellites: The dangers of floating space debris as a menace to operational satellites are indeed scary, and their collision with the latter can render them non-functional.

Satellite and debris littering is called Kessler Syndrome, or runaway defective extrapolation.

· Reduction of Orbital Slots: The build-up of space debris in particular regions can create a scarcity for the availability desirable orbital space slots for missions at later dates.

· Space Situational Awareness: The vast amount of space debris causes satellite operators as well as the National Space Agencies more difficult to track and predict orbits for objects in space.

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH ADDRESSING SPACE ACTIVITIES

1. Detection and Tracking: The 1st problem is it can only warn of objects larger than about 5-10 cm that are in low earth orbit (LEO). For higher orbits, the object has to be even bigger. Smaller debris, t

Resource Monitoring: To monitor thousands of objects accurately, the resources required for this activity include large distributed networks of ground- and space-based sensors which are expensive and difficult to coordinate.

2. Control and Abatement Technologies:

· How it works: Spacecraft and technologies capable of debris capture or neutralization are difficult to engineer. All have considerable technical and operational challenges associated dragging sails, nets harpoons, robotic arms.

· Price: Disposal, launch and operation of debris mitigation/removal missions are costly. Obtaining the necessary money and convincing lawmakers of costs associated with draining resources

· Safety Risks: By nature, active removal missions can create debris if anything goes wrong during capture and disposal attempts.

3. Legal and Policy Issues:

· Insufficient Regulations: International regulations relating to space debris are inadequate and in development. No international treaty holds global jurisdiction over deorbiting or collecting space debris.

· Responsibility and Liability: Debris from legacy missions raises complex questions around liability for the debris itself, as well as any damage caused.

· Compliance enforcement: In the absence of regulations, enforcing compliance can be challenging. Of course, there are plenty of entities - particularly newer spacefaring nations or private companies - that will not strictly follow best practices.

4. International Collaboration:

· Coordination Space debris mitigation is only one of many concerns faced by nations and private companies in space. Diplomacy and logistics issues have long plagued efforts to align the policies, practices and technologies

· Sharing of tracking data and other applicable information for a comprehensive approach to debris management (Data Sharing)

The risk of exposure is the exact opposite to what people want in open collaboration, and issues around data sensitivity or national security prevent such free work.

5. Operational Challenges:

· Managing Active Satellites Current operational satellites must be continuously managed to prevent debris collisions This necessitates advanced collision avoidance systems and is making more regular satellite orbit adjustments necessary.

· Newer future launches ; more chance of creating debris problem. The problem is that you need to find a balance between the growth of space activities and, at least in one aspect, the removal of debris.

6. Economic Concerns:

· Influence on the space economy: Debris adds to insurance and operational expenses for satellite operators. There is also an intrinsic economic risk if a debris environment grows sufficiently to limit access by responsible operators ]

7. Sustainable As Well as Permanent;

· Sustainable Space Practices: Enabling sustainable space practices, such as the reliable development and deployment of satellites that safely deorbit at end of life or other requirements involving technical challenges and costs.

· Sustainable Practices: Space debris is a long-term commitment It requires continued monitoring, international collaboration and development all mitigation technologies to ensure that targeted measures are effective.

· Long-Term Commitment: In essence, although the challenges of space debris are well known and identified some action.

to appropriately deal with them requires a coordinated multi-faceted effort involving innovation in technology. regulatory change at national levels and within global fora (such as UN COPUS), international cooperation .

PROGRAMMES FOR SPACE FOR DEALING WITH DEBRIS

INDIA'S INITIATIVES

· National Space Debris Mitigation Policy Source: - In 2019, India issued its National Space Debris Mitigation Policy in which it committed to the effective and responsible management of space debris.

The policy outlines rules on spacecraft design, operation and end-of-life disposal to reduce the creation of debris.

· Postal programs: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is majorly involved in carrying out different research and development projects concentrating on space debris mitigation. These projects include.

· Collision avoidance: ISRO has designed in-house collision avoidance protocols where in the radar and optical sensors provide real time tracking of space objects for ensuring timely maneuver of its active satellites.

· Strategy for end-of-life disposal: India's space situational awareness team develops mission plans to deorbit satellites at the end of their operational life thus preventing long-term debris generation.

Another key point was ISRO's collaboration with the international space community in general and IADC, specifically for exchange of information on debris monitoring & mitigation.

GLOBAL INITIATIVES

· Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) is the leading international forum on space debris mitigation amongst agencies of 13 countries. IAC develops and advocates guidelines, principles, and technical norms for debris management.

· United Nations Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines: UNCOPUOS, through its Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, adopted space debris mitigation guidelines in 2007.

This assumption represents the floor of injunctions for liability, as it seeks a global legal regime governing space activities and removal in order to mitigate debris generation.

· International space debris removal missions: Several international partnerships are working on developing and validating technologies for the removal of space debris.

Such missions include the European Space Agency E.Deorbit mission to recover a defunct satellite and the Japanese Space Debris Removal Test, designed to capture debris with a net.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

· Dealing with space junk is still an international problem that people, world wide, have to work on. The future will likely see:

· Better debris observation and tracking- Utilization of more ground-based as well as space-based sensors could lead to pinpointed state vector determination related improvements that would help in better predicting the traffic avoidance manoeuvres.

· Creating improved active debris removal technologies: developments in robotics, lasers and other tools will make our waste collections systems more efficient Manufacturing sustainable spacecraft's for restoration mission operations.

· International cooperation: By fostering the collaboration among space agencies on a regular basis, it can implement effective medium for coordinating and combining resources to meet global debris mitigation objectives.

THE FIVE TREATIES: UNITED NATIONS ON SPACE ACTIVITIES

The Outer Space Treaty 1967:Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space,

· An earlier helper of Astronauts Rescuer Score 1968 Landmark Agreement on the Rescue & Return of Allocated into External Space

· Liability Convention 1972: It deals primarily with damage caused by objects in space to other similar kind of space asset, but it also covers the type of liability falling objects from outer space could have for causing injury on earth.

The Convention also imposes "strict liability" on the launching State for damage caused by a space object of that State to another country or its nationals,

· Registration Convention 1976:Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space

· UN Moon Agreement 1979:Agreement Governing The Activities Of States On The Moon And Other Celestial Bodies.

All five conventions are signed by India, which has so far ratified the first four. It should be noted that India has not ratify the Moon agreement.

WAY FORWARD

Every bit of enhancement in tracking and monitoring the space debris, would contribute to reducing risks that are brought about by a collision to operational satellites as well as human missions into place. Reusable launch vehicles,

as opposed to single-use rockets are one way it gets worse at launches. In the future, building satellites from stronger materials and designing them for a controlled (or at least more predictable) re-entry at end-of-life can decrease long-term debris production.