Eliminating Space Debris: Applied Technology and Policy Prescriptions, Fall 2007 - Project 07-02

Communications, global commerce and national defense are highly dependent on satellite constellations. This report details how space debris threatens valuable space-based technology essential to these critical areas. Objects in lower earth orbit (LEO) pose the greatest immediate threat to space-based assets. This paper focuses on all sizes of debris found in LEO. What follows is a comprehensive analysis of the problem of space debris, specifically targeting policies that facilitate debris elimination. Within LEO's 2,000 kilometer altitude from earth's surface, tens of millions of pieces of space debris exist. While many larger pieces can be tracked and avoided, smaller pieces cannot. This unseen threat exemplifies the need for improvements in both space situational awareness and debris cataloguing. The space debris problem has been acknowledged by world bodies (United Nations) and global players alike (commercial interests and individual nation-states). Consequently, it can be argued that 50 years of space environmental utilization has brought clarity to space-faring entities. The original document contains color images.