Skip to main content

A Search for Possible Breakup Fragments in the Geostationary Region

Uetsuhara, Masahiko 1, Hanada, Toshiya 1, Yanagisawa, Toshifumi 1, Kitazawa, Yukihito1
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

This paper reports results of an optical survey for the possible breakup fragments of the U.S. Titan 3C Transtage (1967-066G). The target spacecraft 1967-066G might have experienced an energetic breakup because its orbital anomaly can be confirmed in February 1994 in the U.S. Space Surveillance Network catalogue. Orbits of three uncatalogued objects are acquired by surveying the regions where the possible fragments of 1967- 066G may be appeared. As a result of origin identification, it would be concluded that tracklets of all of them are not associated with the 1967-066G's event regarding the motion vectors, however orbits of two of them are associated with the event regarding the orbital plane vectors and the pinch points of their trajectories. Consequently, it might be possible that the breakup scale is quite small or the orbital anomaly of 1967-066G is not an evidence of its breakup.

Preview