Questions tagged [debris]
Questions about debris in space, often in Earth orbit. Usually referring to nonoperational man-made satellites or parts of satellites.
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Have any bits of a space mission ever collided with a planet or large moon (not Earth) that was not a target of the mission?
For example, a mission to Mars for which some bit of hardware ended up entering Venus's atmosphere.
Has this ever happened, or at least are there projections that it may happen?
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Do launching states need to seek permission for jettisoning rocket stages over waters not counted as international waters?
Rocket debris such as boosters and payload fairings are often discarded over bodies of water. If the debris is set to be discarded over waters outside the launching state's territory, do they need to ...
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1 kiloton nuclear device to clear up debris and dust to expose the iron-nickel core for open-pit mining (on M-Type asteroids)?
My understanding is that initial acceleration from the blast and following solar wind will clear the area around the asteroid for spacecraft navigation (in reasonable time). A 2-3 kilometer M-type ...
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SSA Sensors in Space - game changer?
I'm curious about the space-based sensor networks that seem to be an upcoming means of tracking Resident Space Objects (RSO). https://spacenews.com/getting-ssa-off-the-ground/
I'd like to know more ...
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Equivalents to DISCOS from other agencies
I'm working on a research paper where the primary data source is going to be the DISCOSweb API.
This API/Dataset provides a wealth of information on manmade object in orbit (debris, payloads, spent ...
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The Space Debris Problem: Can a shuttle-style spaceplane even make a dent in it? [closed]
I'm a bit of a shuttle geek. Ask me what my favorite spaceplane is, I'll say the space shuttle! (Specifically, Discovery, since it launched my favorite telescope, Hubble!) While the shuttles ...
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What is the origin of the ring of debris in inclined GSO orbits? [duplicate]
Both these illustrations of space debris show a ring shaped cloud of debris at GSO altitude, but with an inclination of about 15*. What is the source of these objects? The graveyard orbit for GSO ...
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What is the optimum space junk to target for deorbiting?
The danger posed by space debris depends on the debris' mass, ballistic coefficient and orbit.
For a given mass of debris, a single large mass (like an intact dead satellite) poses a much smaller risk ...
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What is the fuel cost of deorbiting a kilo of space junk?
Removing debris from LEO requires a significant delta-V which most schemes propose to accomplish via rocket propulsion.
Source
The ratio of launch fuel to payload mass is often given as 9:1 for LOE.
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Can space debris capture be modeled on surgical grapple baskets?
Can space debris capture be modeled on surgical grapple baskets?
Most plans for de-orbiting space debris involve orbital rendezvous and grappling the debris. Grappling an uncooperative, spinning, ...
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Is it possible to charge space debris with an electrospray thruster?
I have been tasked with finding a way to charge conductive space debris via a cubesat. I have been heavily considering electrospray/colloid thrusters to produce this charge however I am having some ...
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How do we ensure that during reentry or descent of spent stages, it doesnt hit any aircraft or incoming rocket?
When a rocket is launched, stages are separated at different intervals and altitude. The lower stages usually descend immediately while upper stages and orbital platforms usually last in space a bit ...
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How orbital debris' density affects damage, everything else being equal?
If considering one gram of steel and one gram of foam, which one is the biggest threat and would cause most or least damage to the orbital structure it hits?
Radii of these debris is the only thing ...
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How Comprehensive is DISCOSweb?
The DISCOSweb API seems to contain a list of all launches as well as significant amounts of tracked debris.
I'm just wondering how conclusive I can consider this dataset to be? Does it contain all ...
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What is this squiggly moving line in the recent SpaceX SARah-1 Mission?
I watched the livestream of the launch of the SpaceX SARah-1 Mission.
Shortly after the boostback burn there is this squiggly white line that moves away from the first stage, starting at T+03:54. It ...
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Is there any orbital launcher capable of removing the second stage from orbit after inserting the payload satellite into LEO?
The Space Shuttle was able to place a satellite into orbit and to return to Earth.
Is there any second stage that may deliver the payload satellite into LEO and do a deorbit burn after that using its ...
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Sourced RSO catalogs and CDMs
I often go to space-track.org and download the latest space catalog on Resident Space Objects (RSO) and also like to look at the Conjunction Data Messages to check out the probabilities. what other ...
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What happens to the parts of rockets after they burn up?
For some first stages and second stages, and some failed launches, their fate is to burn up in the Earth atmosphere. Once the stage has broken into thousands of smaller parts, aerodynamics changes. ...
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Does Privateer's tracking software Crow's Nest actually offer users something better than the previous state of the art?
CNN's Steve Wozniak's new venture takes aim at space junk discusses a project with Wozniak, Alex Fielding and Moriba Jah:
But the money, according to Wozniak's co-founder in this new venture, couldn'...
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Is it true that 18SPCS is "not really concerned with tracking deep-space debris like" the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket body that hit the Moon?
The Verge's After mistaken identity and confusion, a piece of space junk slams into the Moon goes through the identification saga of the thing that hit the Moon March 4 and includes the following:
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Is the impact of Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage on the Moon's far side on March 4th likely to launch any debris into Moon or Earth orbit?
It is predicted that the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage will impact the Moon's far side on March 4th. The stage apparently weighs about 4 tonnes and will impact at 2.5 km/s at a shallow angle.
There's ...
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Why not add tracking features to upper stages? Has something like this ever been proposed?
The identity of the object that will hit the Moon in early March is still uncertain. Some of the story is in Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been ...
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Project Pluto asks: "Should high-flying space junk be better tracked? Perhaps by an 'official' agency of some sort?" What would it take to implement?
The identity of the object that will hit the Moon in early March is still uncertain. Some of the story is in Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been ...
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How much will global warming increase the density of debris in LEO? What are predictions currently saying?
After about 08:00 in Scott Manley's hot off the press new release SpaceX Loses 40 Satellites To Solar Storm linked below he drifts away from the solar activity-...
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BBC: "A rocket launched by Elon Musk's space exploration company is on course to crash into the Moon and explode." Will it really explode?
The line following the title of BBC's Elon Musk SpaceX rocket on collision course with moon reads:
A rocket launched by Elon Musk's space exploration company is on course to crash into the Moon and ...
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Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been tracking and predicting it so closely?
The Guardian's 'Out-of-control' Chinese rocket falling to Earth... Oops, I mean Out-of-control SpaceX rocket on collision course with moon says that Bill Gray's Project Pluto/DSCOVR says that the 2015 ...
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Did any Columbia debris continue orbiting Earth?
For reentry the Space Shuttles lowered their perigee to 28 nautical miles (52 km) above sea level. Shuttle Columbia disintegrated around 60 km altitude, and the first debris fell off as high as 70.5 ...
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Does James Webb have any protection against meteoroids/space debris?
Any satellite in space is exposed to meteoroids and space debris, and this can cause problems during the operation of a spacecraft.
Does JWST have any protection against these problems on its sun ...
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Where to get raw data for ESA graphs
The European Space Agency maintains the MASTER space debris model and has multiple papers published on the topic.
There is a graph that I have seen in a few papers and on a few websites that I would ...
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How can we get rid of space debris? [closed]
It's known that space debris can do harm to satellites. I have 2 questions:
How do satellites avoid them?
Are there any ways to get rid of it?
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Shouldn't space junk fall back to Earth on its own? How long will take for a ~1 cm piece of junk in LEO to fall back to Earth on its own for example?
I'm a noob in this subject and know little about space exploration, but I wonder about this every time I read the news:
Wouldn't drag make all space junk fall back to Earth after some time?
I'm ...
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How do kick motors distance themselves from their payload after their burn, if at all?
I saw Space News' An object is now orbiting alongside China’s Shijian-21 debris mitigation satellite
recently about a "new object" orbiting near a relatively newly launched satellite. The ...
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Is pre-deorbit explosive disassembly of the ISS utilising propellant a useful way to reduce impact debris?
The ISS could be disassembled post retro burn to provide smaller pieces for burn-up. If the hull space were filled with a stoichiometric mix of propellant from the deorbiting vessel post-burn, it ...
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Deorbit of ISS is a unique event. Are there plans for scientific observation?
The ISS deorbit will be unique. Not only because of its mass, but because the time, location and observing conditions can be accurately chosen. Instruments could be placed for detailed observation. ...
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When the ISS is de-orbited, what is the likely mass of the largest impact fragment?
Some parts of the ISS will be more fragmentation-proof than others. Engine bells and pressure vessels, for instance.
Has NASA done a formal assessment of component survivability to determine what big ...
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Are pictures of Earth' space junk realistic?
Every time I look at a picture that shows the amount of space junk I'm baffled. I can't for the life of me think how anything else being launch into orbit actually makes it without hitting anything ...
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When was an operational satellite accidentally damaged by another man-made object in space?
In connection with the question on Starlink constellation potential contribution to a run-away phenomenon, also known as “Kessler syndrome”, it would be of interest to know how well actual collision ...
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International SSA/STM 3-Layer Model
I'm working on a paper outlining an International SSA/STM1 approach for Civil SSA/STM and have read and referenced many publications. I believe it was an IDA documents such as https://www.ida.org/-/...
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How much could a full-blown Starlink constellation contribute to a future Kessler scenario? What would be the worst-case scenario?
Discussions in comments below this answer to What is the biggest satellite constellation in space right now? have touched on risk vs reward and the Kessler Syndrome in the context of full-blown ...
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Recycling space debris for manufacturing in space
There are a few companies interested in manufacturing (mostly additive) in space. Let's say that by some miracle some company comes up with a space station that is capable of sending out service ...
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What happened to the launch debris that the US dropped on Cuba? Was it noticed or reported?
This answer to How does one dogleg from Florida to a sun-synchronous orbit?
this answer to History of multiple-payload launches?
both describe a launch of GRAB1 that secretly contained a second ...
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Are artificial satellites impacted primarily by natural or artificial particles?
Are functional artificial satellites/space stations/spacecraft/probes impacted primarily by natural or artificial particles/debris? Lets go by something comparable like impact frequency per mass/...
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Why are we not seeing probability curves for space junk collision prediction?
Since many specific space junk collision risks have been assessed, why haven't we combined the data and graphed it? The trendlines could be very instructive. Like mapping climate change, the curve ...
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Testing our knowledge of Space Law. Which state would be liable if a Oneweb satellite collides with another satellite?
On June 27th, Oneweb launched another batch of 36 LEO satellites from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia. The satellites separated from Soyuz at the altitude of ~400 km. Using their electric propulsion ...
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Who is the State of Registry for ALL the SpaceBEE satellites?
SpaceBEEs are tiny satellites engineered and exploited by the company Swarm Technologies. In 2018, it made headlines by sending 4 experimental satellites on a ride-share of the Indian rocket PSLV, ...
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Which Launching State HASN'T breached its obligations under the 1976 Registration Convention?
(the wording of my question above is voluntarily provocative, but the actual question below may be even more)
The context:
The 1976 Registration Convention is part of a set of Treaties that ...
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Does Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty apply to a Launching State?
The following question was asked and answered 3 years ago: might ISRO’s launch of Swarm’s satellites in 2018 be at least a technical violation of the Outer Space Treaty?
Recall that the launch in ...
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Measuring and analyzing the tumble of space debris
How well or accurately can we measure the tumble of space debris?
I know that we can make ground-based measurements based on light curve data acquired by telescopes. Can tumble be measured from radar ...
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Do space industry companies want their defunct satellites back?
Space junk debate aside, many large satellite companies (and governments too) are responsible for a large number of both operational and defunct sats that are still in orbit. When other companies or ...
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Where can i find ELSETS with Co-Variances?
For Special Permutations (I'm a novice), an ELSET with covariance is more accurate than without covariance. A TLE doesn't have room for any covariance. However, I can't seem to find a catalog that ...
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