Securing the Space Domain with Active Orbital Debris Removal: Lessons from Europe and Japan Towards a U.S. Strategy

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of orbital debris poses a significant threat to spacecraft and satellites in outer space. As the United States currently operates the highest number of satellites in space, its space assets face a heightened risk of orbital debris collision. Mitigation of debris is important, but insufficiently addresses that risk. Debris remediation efforts can supplement mitigation to reduce future collision risks by decreasing the number of large debris, particularly in crowded low Earth Orbit (LEO). After investigating the risks that orbital debris present and current efforts to manage their impact, this paper argues that there is need to implement a national Active Debris Removal (ADR) strategy to protect U.S. space assets and improve the space environment for safe operations. Based on two case studies examining the ADR initiatives of Europe and Japan, we draw four main recommendations for U.S. implementation: (1) commercial initiatives towards ADR capabilities in LEO are promising, (2) government support of an ADR commercial market ensures the latter’s long-term viability, (3) commercial initiatives lower ADR cost and invite innovation, improving the ADR chances of success, and (4) starting with simpler ADR cases reduces U.S. government risk and lowers investment requirements for companies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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2 Ibid.

3 Harrison, “Space Threat,” 1.

4 Union of Concerned Scientists, “UCS Satellite Database” ([includes launches through 31 December 2022]), https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database (accessed July 15, 2023).

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6 Ibid.

7 United States. The White House. National Security Strategy (Washington DC: The White House, 2022), 45, 48. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Biden-Harris-Administrations-National-Security-Strategy-10.2022.pdf (accessed April 1, 2023).

8 Holly Zell and Brian Dunbar, “Frequently Asked Questions: Orbital Debris,” NASA.gov, last modified September 2, 2011. https://www.nasa.gov/news/debris_faq.html#:~:text=How%20fast%20are%20orbital%20debris,(10%20km%2Fs). (accessed April 1, 2023).

9 Ibid.

10 “Space Scorecard,” Space-Track.org, United States Space Force Combined Force Space Component Command, last modified n.d., https://www.space-track.org (accessed November 27, 2022).

11 United States, Defense Intelligence Agency, “Challenges to Security in Space”, (Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 2022), 37. https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Documents/News/Military_Power_Publications/Challenges_Security_Space_2022.pdf (accessed April 1, 2023).

12 Ibid.

13 Darren McKnight, Rohit Arora, and Rachel Witner, “Intact Derelict Deposition Study” (paper presented at the First International Orbital Debris Conference, Sugar Land, TX, December 9-12, 2019), 7. https://smcwebsite.wixsite.com/smcwebsite/academic-papers (accessed April 1, 2023).

14 Defense Intelligence Agency, “Challenges”, 38.

15 Ibid.

16 McKnight, “Derelict Study”, 1.

17 The White House, Orbital Debris Implementation Plan, 5-6.

18 NOAA. “Graveyard Orbits and the Satellite Afterlife” NESDIS, Oct. 31, 2016. https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/graveyard-orbits-and-the-satellite-afterlife (accessed April 6, 2023).

19 NOAA. “Graveyard Orbits and the Satellite Afterlife” NESDIS, Oct. 31, 2016. https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/graveyard-orbits-and-the-satellite-afterlife (accessed April 6, 2023); United States, “US Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices” (United States Government, Washington, DC, 2019), 5-6. https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/usg_orbital_debris_mitigation_standard_practices_november_2019.pdf (accessed April 1, 2023).

20 The White House, Orbital Debris Implementation Plan, 14.

21 Eileen K. Stansbery, “NASA Orbital Debris Program Office: Frequently Asked Questions” NASA, https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faq/# (accessed December 5, 2022).

22 Christopher R. May “Triggers and Effects of an Active Debris Removal Market” (The Aerospace Corporation Center for Space Policy and Strategy, Washington DC, 2021), 3. https://csps.aerospace.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/adr%20paper.pdf (accessed April 1, 2023).

23 Ibid.

24 Stansbery, “Orbital Debris: Frequently Asked Questions”.

25 Eileen K. Stansbery, “NASA Orbital Debris Program Office: Mitigation” NASA.gov, https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/mitigation (accessed January 26, 2023).

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

United States. The White House. National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan (Washington, DC: The White House, 2022), 7.

28 European Space Agency Space Debris Office. ESA’s Annual Space Environment Report (Darmstadt, Germany: 2022), 8. https://www.sdo.esoc.esa.int/environment_report/Space_Environment_Report_latest.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

29 Ibid.

30 Eileen K. Stansbery, “Debris Remediation” NASA, https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/remediation (accessed November 27, 2022).

31 Brian Weeden. “Op-ed: How America can Become a Leader in Cleaning Up Space”, Space News, February 16, 2022. https://spacenews.com/op-ed-how-america-can-become-a-leader-in-cleaning-up-space/ (accessed April 2, 2023).

32 May, “Triggers and Effects”, 6.

33 European Space Agency, “ESA Purchases World-First Debris Removal Mission from Start-Up”, Space Safety, January 12, 2020, https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/ESA_purchases_world-first_debris_removal_mission_from_start-up (accessed April 2, 2023).

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35 Stansbery, “NASA Orbital Debris: Mitigation”.

36 United States, “Mitigation Standard Practices”, 1.

37 Brian Weeden, “US space policy, organizational incentives, and orbital debris removal”, The Space Review, October 30, 2017. https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3361/1 (accessed July 15, 2023).

38 United States, The White House, “Space Policy Directive-3, National Space Traffic Management Policy” (The White House, Washington, DC, issued on June 18, 2018), https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/space-policy-directive-3-national-space-traffic-management-policy/ (accessed April 1, 2023).

39 Christopher D. Johnson, Handbook for New Actors in Space. 2017 ed. (Denver, CO: Integrity Print Group, 2017), 81.

40 Ibid, 79.

41 Ibid.

42 Ibid, 81.

43 Ibid, 73.

44 Valentin Degrange, “Active Debris Removal: A Joint Task and Obligation to Cooperate for the Benefit of Mankind” in Space Security and Legal Aspects of Active Debris Removal, ed. Annette Froehlich, (Vienna, Austria: Springer, 2019), 4.

45 United Nations. 1967. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. United Nations (Outer Space Treaty), entered into force 10 October 1967. United Nations Treaty Series. https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html. (accessed April 1, 2023).

46 United Nations, Outer Space Treaty.

47 Degrange, “Active Debris Removal”, 4.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid, 9.

50 Ibid, 4.

51 Vivienne Machi, “US Military Places a Bet on LEO for Space Security,”, Space Development Agency, last modified June 2021, https://www.sda.mil/us-military-places-a-bet-on-leo-for-space-security/ (accessed April 1, 2023).

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53 Giacomo Borelli, Mirko Trisolini, Mauro Massari, and Camilla Colombo, “A Comprehensive Ranking Framework for Active Debris Removal Missions Candidates.” In Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Space Debris, ed. T. Flohrer, S. Lemmens, and F. Schmitz (Darmstadt, Germany, 20-23 April 2021: ESA Space Debris Office), 8. https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc8/paper/239/SDC8-paper239.pdf (accessed April 1, 2023).

In 2021, a group of international orbital experts published a similar index listing their assessment of the top 50 debris target candidates, however the index does not include any US objects. See Darren McKnight, Rachel Witner, Francesca Letizia, Stijn Lemmens, Luciano Anselmo, Carmen Pardini, Alessandro Rossi, Chris Kunstadter, Satomi Kawamoto, Vladimir Aslanov, Juan-Carlos Dolado Perez, Vincent Ruch, Hugh Lewis, Mike Nicolls, Liu Jing, Shen Dan, Wang Dongfang, Andrey Baranov, Dmitriy Grishko, “Identifying the 50 statistically-most-concerning derelict objects in LEO” Acta Astronautica, no. 181 (2021): 282-291, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.01.021.

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56 Borelli, Trisolini, Massari, and Colombo, “Comprehensive Ranking”, 8.

57 Robin Biesbroek, “ESA’s e.deorbit mission and its roadmap to Active Debris Removal” (paper presented at the 5^th Challenges in European Aerospace Air & Space Conference, Delft, Netherlands, September 7-11, 2015), 1. https://aerospace-europe.eu/digital-library/digital-library-ceas/papers-ceas-1/esas-edeorbit-mission-and-its-roadmap-to-active-debris-removal/ (accessed April 1, 2023).

58 United Nations. Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines (IADC-02-01, Revision 1, 2007), 6. https://www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/spacelaw/sd/IADC-2002-01-IADC-Space_Debris-Guidelines-Revision1.pdf (accessed October 17, 2023).

59 “ESA Facts,” The European Space Agency, https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/ESA_facts (accessed December 18, 2022).

60 Biesbroek, “ESA’s e.deorbit mission”, 8.

61 European Space Agency, “From Active Debris Removal to In-Orbit Servicing: The Legacy of e.deorbit,” Clean Space Blog, last modified November 26, 2018. https://blogs.esa.int/cleanspace/2018/11/26/from-active-debris-removal-to-in-orbit-servicing-the-legacy-of-e-deorbit/ (accessed April 2, 2023).

62 Biesbroek, “ESA’s e.deorbit mission”, 5.

63 Borelli, Trisolini, Massari, and Colombo, “Comprehensive Ranking”, 8.

64 Ibid, 8.

65 Robin Biesbroek, Luisa Innocenti, Andrew Wolahan, Sara Morales Serrano “e.deorbit – ESA’s Active Debris Removal Mission” In Proceedings from the 7^th European Conference on Space Debris (Darmstadt, Germany, April 18-21, 2017), 4-5. https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc7/paper/1053/SDC7-paper1053.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

66 Biesbroek, “ESA’s e.deorbit mission”, 9.

67 Briesbroek, “ESA’s Active Debris Removal Mission”, 9.

68 European Space Agency, “Removing Debris to Demonstrate Commercial in-Orbit Servicing,” Clean Space Blog, last modified September 6, 2018. https://blogs.esa.int/cleanspace/2018/09/06/removing-a-debris-to-demonstrate-commercial-in-orbit-servicing/ (accessed April 2, 2023).

69 European Space Agency, 2019, “From ADR to IOS: The Legacy of e.deorbit, Part Four,” Clean Space Blog, last modified February 1, 2019. https://blogs.esa.int/cleanspace/2019/02/01/from-adr-to-ios-the-legacy-of-e-deorbit-part-four/ (accessed April 2, 2023).

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71 European Space Agency, 2019, “ESA commissions world’s first space debris removal,” Clean Space Blog, last modified September 12, 2019. https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Clean_Space/ESA_commissions_world_s_first_space_debris_removal (accessed April 2, 2023).

72 Ibid.

73 Ibid.

74 “clearspace-1”, Space Safety, European Space Agency, https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/ClearSpace-1 (accessed December 28, 2022).

75 Toru Yamamoto, Jun Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Okamoto, Ryota Yoshida, Chiharu Hoshino, Kohi Yamanaka, “Pave the Way for Active Debris Removal Realization: JAXA Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2),” (paper presented at the 8th European Conference on Space Debris, (virtual) Darmstadt, Germany, April 20-23, 2021), 1. https://conference.sdo.esoc.esa.int/proceedings/sdc8/paper/276/SDC8-paper276.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

76 “About Astroscale: Timeline”, Astroscale, https://astroscale.com/about-astroscale/timeline/ (accessed December 29, 2022).

77 Ibid.

78 “ASTROSCALE and JAXA Conclude Joint Agreement to Counteract Space Debris,” Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency: Press Release, last modified September 12, 2017. https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2017/09/20170912_elsa-d.html (accessed April 2, 2023).

79 “ELSA-d Press Kit 2021,” Astroscale, 5. https://astroscale.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ELSA-d-Press-Kit-2021.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

80 “SSTL and ASTROSCALE team up for Orbital Debris Removal missions,” Astroscale: News, Astroscale, last modified November 21, 2017. https://astroscale.com/sstl-and-astroscale-team-up-for-orbital-debris-removal-missions/ (accessed April 2, 2023).

81 Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, “Joint Agreement”.

82 Astroscale, “ELSA-d Press Kit 2021”, 10-11.

83 Ibid, 4.

84 Yamamoto, “Proceedings”, 2.

85 Ibid.

86 Nobutaka Tanishima, Hiroyuki Okamoto, Kentaro Iki, Keisuke Watanabe, Teppei Okumura, Hiroki Kato, Masato Hayashi, and Daichi Hirano, “Concept and Design of the Caging-Based Debris Gripper for PAF Capturing”, (paper presented at 1st International Orbital Debris Conference, Houston, Texas, December 9-12, 2019), 2. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/orbitaldebris2019/orbital2019paper/pdf/6046.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

87 Ibid, 1.

88 Ibid.

89 Yamamoto, “Proceedings”, 1.

90 Borelli, “Comprehensive Ranking”, 8.

91 Yamamoto, “Proceedings”, 3.

92 Ibid, 4.

93 “Active Debris Removal (ADR),”Astroscale: Services, Astroscale, https://astroscale.com/services/active-debris-removal-adr/ (accessed January 2, 2023).

94 Yamamoto, “Proceedings,” 4.

95 Ibid, 6.

96 Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, “Research on space debris, safety of space objects with nuclear power sources on board and problems relating to their collision with space debris” (Report for Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, United Nations, Vienna, 2021), 4. https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2021/aac_105c_12021crp/aac_105c_12021crp_6_0_html/AC105_C1_2021_CRP06E.pdf (accessed April 2, 2023).

97 Yamamoto, “Proceedings”, 7.

98 Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, “Research on Space Debris”, 5.

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102 Joan Johnson-Freese, Heavenly Ambitions: America’s Quest to Dominate Space, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009), 123-124.

103 Joseph S. Nye Jr. and David A. Welch, Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation, 10th ed., (Boston: Pearson, 2017), 202-203.

104 UK Space Agency, “UK builds leadership in space debris removal and in-orbit manufacturing with national mission and funding boost”, Gov.UK, last modified September 26, 2022, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-builds-leadership-in-space-debris-removal-and-in-orbit-manufacturing-with-national-mission-and-funding-boost (accessed April 5, 2023).

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106 Brad Townsend, Security and Stability in The New Space Age, (New York: Routledge, 2020). 37-38.