Speaker
Description
In recent years, simulations based on evolutionary models of the space debris population, from many studies in the literature, have shown the need for more actions to mitigate the space debris problem, beyond post-mission disposal of satellites at the end of life. Many derelict objects have been left in orbit since the first space missions and more will inevitably be left in orbit in the future.
Active Debris Removal (ADR) has been proposed as a possible solution to reduce orbital congestion, by removing dangerous derelict objects that would otherwise remain in space for many years and continue to pollute the environment. Even if the technology is not yet mature enough for regular use, some demonstration missions are currently ongoing, showing the growing interest in ADR. It is considered a promising technology for future applications.
With this growing interest, some important questions arise: is ADR really beneficial from an environmental risk perspective? In which situations would debris removal be more beneficial, either alone or together with other mitigation measures?
This paper presents scientific results to help answer these questions. First, an environmental indicator is selected to evaluate the impact of ADR missions and the benefit they can provide, both alone and combined with post-mission disposal. The THEMIS 1.0 software that implements a debris risk metric is used because it can estimate environmental risk during the different phases of a mission.
The index is calculated for different ADR mission profiles and compared with post-mission disposal practices and with cases where no action is taken. Sensitivity analyses are carried out to study how the index changes when targeting satellites at different altitudes in low Earth orbit and with different masses. Moreover, the effect of the success of each mission phase is analysed.
Results are presented and discussed to identify the situations, in terms of mission profiles and parameters, where ADR is beneficial, and where the risk introduced may be higher than that of other mitigation options.
| Which section would you like to submit your abstract to? | Session 5: “How to assess the impact of space missions onto the space environment?” |
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