Ballistic parameter and lifetime assessment for catalogued objects

The LASCO (Lifetime Assessment of Catalogued Objects) tool is dedicated to the computation of the orbital lifetimes of all catalogued objects. It was developed in the course of an upgrade of ESA's DISCOS database. It consists of a graphical user interface, and four separate modules addressing individual tasks. A single-point interface to the DISCOS database is realised by means of a Perl script. It extracts data from DISCOS, initiates the execution of the subordinated modules and writes the results to the database. 1. BaPIT (Ballistic Parameter Iteration Tool) calculates the ballistic parameters of catalogued objects contained in DISCOS. 2. SOLAT (Simple Orbital Lifetime Assessment Tool) calculates the orbital lifetime of catalogued objects using different orbit propagation methods depending on the expected lifetime and the required accuracy. 3. RIO (Risk Object Re-entry Warning Tool) performs detailed decay analysis for all objects identified as hazardous, and having an expected lifetime below a pre-defined time span. The amount and continuity of ballistic parameter and lifetime assessment data provided by LASCO for the DISCOS database is unprecedented. It allows for a global analysis of the currently tracked population. The primary aim of this paper is to give a survey of the capabilities of LASCO. A second aspect will be to provide a first critical review of the results obtained from the LASCO runs performed since the beginning of the operational phase in October 1999.