Hypervelocity research and the growing problem of space debris

Man-made orbital debris has increased in number so that it poses a potential barrier to the exploration of space. The ever-increasing number of objects in space has created an increasing hazard to all spacecraft, including manned shuttles, unmanned satellites, and manned space stations. Although international efforts are underway to reduce the proliferation of space debris, the number of objects continues to climb.

The majority of debris tracked by earth observation is classed either as ‘operational debris’ (spent boosters and satellites, discarded hardware from manned flight, etc.) or as “fragmentation debris” (debris created by explosions aboard boosters or satellites or by impacts between objects in orbit). While there is considerable information available about operational debris, statistics on fragmentation debris are more suspect, since it is difficult to predict with any accuracy the fragments resulting from an explosion or impact on a space structure.

As realization of the importance of the problem grows, the hypervelocity launcher and impact communities are becoming increasingly involved. This paper defines the major problems to be solved and outlines the requirements for launchers, diagnostics, and modeling. A bew U.S. space program to model and the fragmentation of satellites impacted by space debris described. The results of tests against actual satellites are discribed in terms of their importance to the modeling effort.