Space Debris: Life Cycle Analysis and Preventive Mitigation

• Grant number: 23/01391-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Aerospace Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Denilson Paulo Souza dos Santos
• Grantee: Denilson Paulo Souza dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental São João da Boa Vista. São João da Boa Vista , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Jorge Kennety Silva Formiga ; José Augusto de Oliveira ; Julian Arnaldo Avila Diaz ; Leandra Isabel de Abreu

Abstract

Orbital debris is defined as man-made objects placed in the space environment that no longer serve a useful purpose. Making an analogy to conventional environmental impacts, the potential injection and release of orbital debris or the generation of fragments in space environments can be considered as an emission of an environmental stressor that damages the orbital natural resources that support space activities. Space sustainability is an increasingly important topic as the exploration and use of space expands, as a result of this expansion, the international community is working to develop solutions to ensure safe and responsible space exploration. It is proposed to systematically integrate the impact of debris emission on the orbital resource to broaden the scope of simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) for space systems. This work proposes a simplified study of the life cycle of space debris; simulation of clouds of space debris generated as a result of random explosions, each particle analyzed individually, in the restricted three-body problem (PRTC), where the mass of each particle is negligible when compared to the mass of the primaries (Earth-Moon); analysis using numerical integrators for temporal orbit propagation and re-entry (MATLAB), debris risk assessment and mitigation analysis (DRAMA/ESA) and orbit propagation and collisions (STK/AGI) is also proposed. (AU)