ELSA-d debris removal spacecraft. (Astroscale)
MAUI: Deputy Commander Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt said there is an urgent need for the industry’s ability to clean up the burgeoning space junk, as well as the establishment of an administrative authority to manage on-orbit traffic. Space Force Space Operations Command.
“We need to pick up the debris. We need a garbage truck. We need something to clear the debris,” she said Wednesday at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference here. “There is definitely a need for it, and I think there are use cases for the industry to seize it as a service-based opportunity.”
According to NASA, the Department of Defense is currently tracking more than 27,000 objects in space, most of which are debris such as defunct rocket bodies.
Bart didn’t exactly say that the Space Force plans to pay industry to develop debris removal technology, but her reference to the concept of space debris collection as a service Suggestive. A number of different space functions, from satellite communications to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) imaging and analysis.
That said, the Space Force has so far not really been interested in implementing a program or programs for the routine purchase of any kind of space service. As such, companies such as Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics and Astroscale have focused their internal investments on so-called “satellite service” missions such as refueling, orbit correction, and repairs as a potential new source of commercial revenue.
SpaceLogistics launched the first Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) robotic spacecraft to dock, relocate, and power the Intelsat IS-901 to resume operations last February. Last August he launched MEV-2 and in April this year docked with Intelsat IS-1002 for a mission to extend the life of a dying satellite.
“These contracts are five-year life extensions, and at the end of these services we undock and move on to the next customer,” said Joe Anderson, vice president of operations and business development at SpaceLogistics. Bart’s presentation.
SpaceLogistics’ website states that the company’s “vision is to have a commercial service fleet at GEO that can handle most service needs. We are working closely with them to develop the next generation of space logistics technology.”
Japanese start-up Astroscale, which has set up a U.S. arm focused on potential satellite service sales to the Pentagon, launched its End-of-Life Services (ELSA-d) mission with the Astroscale demonstration in March. The company’s chief technology officer, Mike Lindsey, said on August 25 that the company had successfully tested its ability to capture, release, and redock a client spacecraft using a magnetic capture system. told the panel.
“A major challenge for debris removal, and for on-orbit services in general, is docking or capturing with client objects. has been successfully validated,” the Astroscale website explains.
Unlike SpaceLogistics, which has an Intelsat contract, Astroscale used its own funds to conduct the demo.
Bert, who also directs Space Command’s Allied Space Component Command (CFSCC), told the AMOS audience that commercial He said he considers satellites are being launched explosively. Weekly — The fear of satellites and space debris colliding in orbit looms larger than ever.
“The pressure[on the Department of Defense]to ensure flight and space safety and manage space traffic for the free and fair use of all is at an all-time high,” she said. .
“The concern is that we’re not managing the satellites properly and we’re in a situation where too many satellites collide,” she asked. “If stationkeeping isn’t done correctly, it will create debris and ripple effects that affect the entire world.”
But Bart explained that the Department of Defense does not have the authority to do true space traffic management. “We’re doing space traffic awareness,” she said, providing information about where the military is in space and what they’re doing. It is not obliged to do so.
As such, Space Force and Space Command leaders, at least in the United States, are desperate for the Department of Commerce to act more quickly to establish rules for governing space traffic.
“We, as the Department of Defense, look forward to the Department of Commerce taking on this task and rising,” Bart said. “Why is it important for the military? This allows an important distinction in our domain, as in all other domains, regarding the separation of civil and military requirements. The Department will be able to focus on space domain awareness, which will lead to battlespace awareness, and understanding how to fight and win wars that extend into space.”
The Department of Commerce deliberately held back on creating both a new organization and a framework for developing such space traffic management practices, including setting up services to reduce the burden on the Department of Defense. It has been condemned by both Congress and industry for being widely viewed as Warn private, commercial, and foreign operators of potential orbital collisions. Pentagon officials have also expressed frustration that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) appears to be going backwards, rather than forwards, toward its goals under the previous administration.
The Trump Administration’s 2018 Space Policy Directive 3 (SPD-3) assigned the Office of Space and Commerce (OSC) as the private agency responsible for space traffic management (STM). Its offices are under the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Services umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages US weather satellites.. This agency is also the parent body of the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Authority (CRSRA), which regulates commercial remote sensing satellites.
The 2021 blanket spending package passed by Congress last December gave OCS $10 million in funding to launch a pilot program. The bill also allowed the consolidation of OCS and CRSRA into her single entity, as provided for in STP-3. The Biden administration’s budget request for his fiscal year 2022 called for only a total of $10 million for a new consolidated office, with no funds to be spent setting up his new STM system. 2020 Survey It agreed with Commerce’s then-considered estimate by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), commissioned by Congress, that the purchase of commercial data and services alone through 2024 would require between $57.4 million and $72.4 million.
“We are getting nowhere at all,” lamented one disgruntled industry source today, echoing the broader view of industry experts. And whenever the industry calls for new rules and government action, the situation must certainly be dire.
