Catastrophe on the Horizon: A Scenario-Based Future Effect of Orbital Space Debris

Abstract

Orbital space debris can be defined as dead satellites, discarded rocket parts, or simply flecks of paint or other small objects orbiting the earth. It is simply space junk, but junk that can be extremely dangerous to space assets. Most of the debris concerns are associated with satellites and manned space missions in Low-Earth orbit (LEO). LEO extends out to about 5,000 kilometers from the earths equator.1 There are two other bands of orbits that contain satellites. The first, Geosynchronous-Earth orbit (GEO) is the outer most band and extends out to approximately 35,888 kilometers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2010
Accession Number
AD1018436

Entities

People

  • Jack Donahue

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Earth Orbits
  • Engineering
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Microsatellites
  • National Security
  • Natural Disasters
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Outer Space
  • Space Debris
  • Space Objects
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • United States

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Satellites