April 2017
Urgent action needed to keep satellites safe in orbit
... of the GEO protected region as per IADC guideline 3.3.2 [2]. This defines a toroid-like band that encircles Earth. Active Debris Removal (ADR) will need to be accomplished at some point because even under best-case scenarios we cannot expect 100...
March 2015
Congested, contested, and invested: of space debris, risky launches and private initiative
... private sector initiatives and innovations are likely to have as much of an impact as government initiatives. Active debris removal Active debris removal (ADR) is another area that has seen the emergence of proposed commercial solutions. Numerous...
29 September 2022
UK gives space junk clearance missions priority funding
... the global satellite operator. The ELSA-M multi-client debris removal space servicer will be launched ahead of the UK’s Active Debris Removal mission in late 2024. Debris removal is expected to be the fastest growing segment of the emerging in-orbit...
April 2019
The changing economics of space
... extension, but with the intention to relocate the spacecraft or to decommission it at the end of its operational life. Active Debris Removal (ADR) requires navigating in the close vicinity of the target which could be achieved by Lidar means. New...
May 2019
Wake-up call for debris creation in geostationary orbit
... that in some regions of LEO we already have the Kessler Syndrome (collisional cascading) and it will now require active debris removal to reverse it. At times one has to wonder at the space industry. Kessler and Cour-Palais’s paper on the “Collision...
September 2023
A multifaceted approach to space sustainability
... the commercial sector, which is starting to conduct space operations such as in-orbit servicing, in-orbit refuelling, active debris removal and other close-proximity orbital operations in the absence of widely shared rules of behaviour in orbit. The...
