New satellite technology to improve space junk tracking

by Stevie Smith - Apr 6 2009, 15:30

The gathering blanket of detritus above the Earth has now led to diligent eyes on the ground requiring more advanced technology to better track the many thousands of pieces of debris already being monitored by U.S. Strategic Command, which is where the Space Based Space Surveillance Block 10 satellite comes in.  

With an estimated 19,000 pieces of junk constantly under Strategic Command’s watchful eye – the smallest being around the size of a baseball – the new satellite technology will hopefully provide significantly more accuracy when it comes to tracking possible threats to orbiting platforms.

Created by Boeing in conjunction with Ball Aerospace, the new satellite is presently scheduled to blast clear of the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this coming summer and will be able to view and rotate in all directions, thereby doubling current detection abilities.

“This will be an integral tool toward understanding what’s going on in space,” commented Ball Aerospace vice president and general manager for national defense Fred Doyle.

Increased focus on the perils of space debris has emerged since a U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian intelligence platform 500 miles above Siberia in early February, resulting in an extra 1,000 pieces of orbiting junk being flung in all directions.

Despite the possible ramifications of such high-speed debris piercing satellites, concern is particularly high regarding the possible human cost should the ISS be struck.

Notably, the ISS crew were evacuated to a Soyuz escape module in March as a small piece of junk narrowly missed the station while travelling at a speed of around 18,000 mph. Later in the month, the station was physically repositioned ahead of a second junk buzz soon after the successful docking of NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis.

According to U.S. Strategic Command, it is monitoring an estimated 13,000 pieces of junk measuring more than 30 feet, while a further 100,000 pieces below four inches are also thought to be in constant orbit.

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