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There are currently tens of thousands of pieces of useless space junk – including remnants of old spacecraft, satellites and rockets – in low Earth orbit, with the amount rising rapidly.
The vast majority pose no threat to people on the ground, as they are small enough to completely burn up on atmospheric re-entry. However, about 20 % of the estimated 200 to 600 annual orbital re-entries involve debris large enough to drop at least some fragments onto our planet.
Amid this backdrop, the EU-funded REDSHIFT project is working to develop new space debris mitigation guidelines and a web-based tool to protect people from falling space objects.
Project partners are taking a holistic approach which, from the outset, considers two issues. First, space systems must be 'designed for survivability' to endure in the harsh environment of space. Second, they must be 'designed for demise' so as to ensure their safe re-entry into the atmosphere when their missions are completed.
As part of the process to develop the mitigation guidelines, REDSHIFT is assessing a number of groundbreaking technologies, including 3D printing. This technology is already having an important impact on modern space systems.
REDSHIFT researchers are subjecting selected spacecraft structures to a battery of functional, hypervelocity impact and wind tunnel tests. All of the test structures are being produced using highly innovative 3D printing processes.
Structural design is another key consideration. For example, large structural spacecraft elements can be designed to fracture along intended breakup planes during re-entry. This way, falling pieces are smaller and therefore more likely to burn up completely before reaching the ground.
Analysis tool
To help designers tackle all of the complex technical, economic and legal issues at play, REDSHIFT is also developing a web-based tool aimed at providing a complete debris mitigation analysis of a given space mission.
Using existing debris evolution models and lessons learned from theoretical and experimental work, the new tool aims to deliver safe, scalable and cost-effective satellite and mission designs based on specified operational constraints.