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The Space Debris Environment - Past and Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

W. Flury
W. Flury*
Affiliation:
ESA/ESOC, Robert Bosch Str. 5, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany [email protected]

Abstract

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The mass and number of Earth-orbiting human-generated space debris have increased steadily since the beginning of space flight. Recent voluntary measures for debris mitigation applied by space operators have not stemmed the increase. The debris hazard for manned and unmanned missions is still low, but rising. More effective but also more costly measures, such as selective deorbiting of used stages, will be necessary to avoid a run-away situation. Internationally agreed codes for debris management and control are needed to solve this global space environment problem.

Type
Part 3. Space Debris
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 196: Preserving the Astronomical Sky , 2001 , pp. 181 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

References

Flury, W. 1998, The Space Debris Environment of the Earth, ASP Conf. Ser. 139, 49–64.Google Scholar
Kessler, D. J. et al. 1997, The Search for a Previously Unknown Source of Orbital Debris: the Possibility of a Coolant Leak in Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites, JSC-27737, NASA JSC (Houston, USA).Google Scholar
Technical Report on Space Debris, Text of the Report adopted by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, United Nations Publication A/AC.105/720, July 1999.Google Scholar