A-SAT missile test created 400 pieces of debris, put ISS at risk: Nasa

Nasa's Jim Bridenstine said about 60 pieces have been tracked so far and out of which 24 are going above the apogee of the ISS.

The NASA on Tuesday termed as a "terrible thing" India's shooting down of one of its satellites that has created about 400 pieces of orbital debris, endangering the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said about 60 pieces have been tracked so far and out of which 24 are going above the apogee of the ISS.

"That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris and an apogee that goes above the international space station. That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight that we need to see have happen," he said at a NASA townhall here.

"The ASAT test by India last week has resulted in about 400 pieces of orbital debris," he added.

Bridenstine said not all of the pieces were big enough to track and the NASA is right now tracking objects which are 10 centimeters or bigger.

"Some 60 pieces of orbital debris have been tracked so far, 24 out of which poses risk to the International Space Station," he said.

Bridenstine was addressing employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address, announced that India shot down a satellite in space with a missile, catapulting the country into an elite club of space powers alongside the US, Russia and China

Bridenstine is the first top official from the Trump administration to come out in public against the India's ASAT test.

"We are charged with commercialising of low earth orbit. We are charged with enabling more activities in space than we've ever seen before for the purpose of benefiting the human condition, whether it's pharmaceuticals or printing human organs in 3D to save lives here on earth or manufacturing capabilities in space that you're not able to do in a gravity well," he said.

"All of those are placed at risk when these kinds of events happen," Bridenstine said as he feared India's ASAT test could risk proliferation of such activities by other countries.

"When one country does it, other countries feel like they have to do it as well," he said.

"It's unacceptable. The NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact to us is," the NASA Administrator said.

Business Standard

A $100-million effort to remove 750,000 pieces of junk that encircle Earth

With an estimated 750,000 bits of old satellites and rockets circling the Earth at about 8 kilometers per second, a collision could instantly shatter a multimillion dollar satellite.

As the satellite industry booms, a Japan-based venture is working to prevent space-debris collisions that could paralyze transport, defense and telecommunications systems.

Astroscale Holdings Inc. is preparing to rendezvous with, capture and dock a test satellite early next year to show how its technology can help clear orbiting junk, Miki Ito, 36, general manager of Astroscale’s Japan unit, said in an interview.

Astroscale is competing in a niche that has drawn urgent attention and funding from companies and governments including those in the U.S., Japan, Singapore and the UK. The venture has raised about $103 million, including money from Japan’s state-backed INCJ Ltd., as it vies with rivals to invent an affordable way to prevent a chain-reaction of collisions known as the Kessler effect.

Astroscale said its mission will be the world’s first in-orbit debris capture and removal demonstration using its rendezvous and magnetic capture mechanisms. In the test run, “chaser” and “target” modules will rocket into orbit, then separate. The chaser will then attempt to capture the target once in a steady state and again when it is tumbling. Once safely docked, the chaser and target will power back toward Earth, burning up on re-entry into the atmosphere.

(Business Standard)

Given the difficulty of fixing satellites in orbit, there is usually no choice but to bring malfunctioning craft down, said Ito, who worked on microsatellite projects at the Next Generation Space System Technology Research Association before becoming president of Astroscale Japan, then general manager this month.

Astroscale is also planning to raise its workforce to 100 from 60 as it expands to the U.S. and other global markets.

With an estimated 750,000 bits of old satellites and rockets circling the Earth at about 18,000 miles per hour (8 kilometers per second), a collision could instantly shatter a multimillion dollar satellite, as portrayed in the Academy Award-winning 2013 movie “Gravity.” Worse, a chain reaction of destruction could render entire bands of low-earth orbit un-navigable for satellites.

Close Calls

There have already been some close calls. In 2009, the U.S.-launched Iridium33 satellite collided with Russia’s Kosmos-2251, sending thousands of new bits of debris hurtling through space. The crash didn’t immediately trigger other collisions, but the junk is still up there and may yet do so.

Still, the number of satellites being flung into space is soaring. Commercial launches under 500 kilograms are forecast to jump 10-fold to more than 5,600 in the 10 years to 2027, compared with the previous decade, consulting firm Euroconsult estimates in its report on prospects for the small satellite market.