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IDEA- The Project for In-Situ Debris Environmental Awareness

Ae, Kazuaki 1, Uetsuhara, Masahiko 1, Hanada, Toshiya1
Affiliation data not available1

Document details

Publishing year2013 PublisherESA Publishing typeConference Name of conference6th European Conference on Space Debris
Pagesn/a Volume
6
Issue
1
Editors
L. Ouwehand

Abstract

Kyushu University has initiated IDEA the project for in-situ debris environmental awareness. This project aims at a prompt and clear understanding of the current and future micron-size debris environment in the low Earth orbit region. Orbital debris, even smaller than 1 mm, may cause a fatal damage on a spacecraft because of a high relative velocity at impact. Micron-size debris could be one of major threats against safe and secure space development and utilization for humankind. However, the current micron-size debris environment has not been defined well because measurements are quite limited in terms of orbital regimes and not continuously available yet. Thus, the IDEA project proposes to deploy a group of micro satellites, those conduct in-situ and near real-time measurements of micron-size debris, into any orbital regimes to be monitored. This paper briefly introduces the IDEA project and micron-size debris modeling to define and dynamically update the current environment using measurements continuously acquired through the IDEA project.

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