Space Debris Mitigation Standard Training

Monday 7 Oct 2024, 14:00 → 17:00 Europe/Paris

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to the Space Debris Mitigation Standard Training, a specialised session dedicated to enhancing understanding of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) latest efforts in space debris mitigation. The training will be held on October 7th, 2024, from 14:00 to 17:00 (Europe/Paris time) in person in ESTEC (Erasmus Auditorium) and online.

About the Training

In response to the significant change in the use of space and the increasing concern related to the space debris issues and space sustainability topics at large, ESA has decided to introduce the so-called “Zero Debris” approach. The goal is to significantly limit the production of debris in Earth and Lunar orbits by 2030 for all future missions, programmes and activities.

As part of said initiative, in 2023, ESA updated two fundamental documents that regulate how all the Agency's space missions are designed, built, operated and disposed: ESA’s Space Debris Mitigation Policy and Space Debris Mitigation Requirements. This process took place through two working groups where more than 50 experts from all-over ESA were involved, with dedicated workshops organised in parallel with industry stakeholders to gather their feedback.

The new ESA Space Debris Mitigation Requirements (ESSB-ST-U-007) build upon an existing European framework that has been in effect since 2014 (i.e. the ECSS adoption notice of ISO24113) and introduce a series of additional requirements that cover several aspects of a mission. These include more stringent conditions for orbital clearance, the adoption of design-for-removal features for missions with high-risk scenarios of space debris generation, the formalisation of best practices for collision avoidance and space traffic coordination, and, finally, the request for assessment of the impact of space missions on astronomy.

In 2024, ESA has been working also on updating its associated handbook on Space Debris Mitigation Compliance Verification Guidelines (ESSB-HB-U-002) to provide further guidance on the verification approach for such requirements, which are in some cases quite novel in terms of aspects to be analysed and methodologies to be applied.

The presentation will give a brief overview of the mitigation measures introduced by the new ESA’s Space Debris Mitigation Requirements and the recommended approach for verification. It will also address Frequenty Asked Questions collected in these first eleven months of application of the new requirement and questions raised by the audience.

Registration Details

Participation is free of charge; however, registration is required. To secure your spot, please complete the registration form by October 1st, 2024. In the registration, you will be able to specify if you plan to attend the training in person or online.

If you have specific questions to be discussed during the training, please submit them through the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/MSy4u0eyyk

For any inquiries, please contact: space.debris.mitigation@esa.int

Agenda

14:00 - 15:00 - Overview of ESA's Space Debris Mitigation Requirements
15:00 - 16:00 - F.A.Q. 
16:00 - 17:00 - Submitted questions and questions from the audience

Training Slides ESA-TECQI-HO-2024-002968 - ESA's Space Debris Mitigation Requirments - training.pdf