Overcrowded Space Traffic: Threat and risks of making space inaccessible

Overcrowded Space Traffic: Threat and risks of making space inaccessible

   Did you know that apart from traffic on the road, there's also space traffic from multiple pieces of space debris orbiting Earth at lightning-fast speed. Creating a risk of possible on-orbit collision between satellite and space debris.

   Space traffic management has become more crucial than ever, from the rising threats of damaging satellites in orbit to the possibility of making space inaccessible in the future.

   Nowadays, our planet is surrounded by both operational and defunct satellites, discarded launch vehicles, and smaller space debris. ESA estimated that currently there are at least 670,000 pieces of debris larger than 1 cm in Earth orbit.

   Space debris larger than 1 cm in size can potentially disable a satellite or damage the International Space Station shield. Moreover, an object larger than 10 cm can entail catastrophic fragmentation with a satellite, triggering a domino effect of on-orbit collision known as the 'Kessler Syndrome'.

   With space being made more accessible by having multiple commercial launch providers, the European Union estimated more than 50,000 satellites expected to be launched within the next decade. Further increasing the risks of on-orbit collision between satellites and space debris, unless any measures are taken.

   GISTDA, or the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand, developed the space traffic management known as ZIRCON. ZIRCON has started monitoring the collision risk of GISTDA's THEOS and THEOS-2 satellites with space debris in the same orbit since December 2020.

   The ZIRCON system has successfully alerted the possible collision risk of the THEOS satellite with Fengyun 1C DEB, at the closest approach of just 25 meters apart. GISTDA engineers decided to maneuver the THEOS satellite away with a minimum of 50 meters of clearance, making both objects pass by each other safely on July 27, 2021.

   This space traffic management can monitor the possible collision up to 7 days in advance, which is crucial to the mission controller in creating the operational plan for the THEOS and THEOS-2 satellites. Being developed in-house by GISTDA engineers, the ZIRCON system proved to be both cost-effective and very precise for advanced monitoring.

   The development of space traffic management like ZIRCON is part of GISTDA's mission to facilitate and make space more accessible for Thai's public and private sectors, along with maximizing the benefits of space exploration and technologies for everyone.