Evaluating the impact of space activities in low earth orbit

Abstract

The evolution of cataloged orbital debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) over the last quarter of century was analyzed in detail, to gather insights on the development of space activities, on the effectiveness of the debris mitigation measures recommended in the meantime, and on the environmental impact of fragmentations, in particular collisions, both intentional and accidental. The main conclusion was that the observed evolution matched on the whole the predictions of the unmitigated business-as-usual scenarios simulated twenty years ago, and that the benefits caused by the progressive worldwide adoption of mitigation measures were unfortunately offset by a couple of catastrophic collisions and prolonged weak solar activity. Concerning the recorded growth of cataloged fragmentation debris, nowhere have the signs of an exponential increase been revealed so far. Nevertheless, the overall picture has worsened during the last quarter of a century and extreme care is required in planning and conducting new space activities from now on, especially in a phase of increased and ever more rapid exploitation. In order to assess the sustainability of space activities, especially over the next 10–30 years, several environmental criticality indexes have been introduced and discussed, estimating their current values in LEO, as well as their magnitudes associated with specific scenarios of debris growth. They could provide simple tools for evaluating the relative and absolute impact on the debris environment, either in LEO as a whole or in specific altitude shells, of new spacecraft deployments and operations, as in the case of mega-constellations of satellites. The main result of this preliminary analysis was that all indexes were consistent in indicating that from one third to one half of the LEO capacity to sustain long-term space activities – as they are currently conceived – has already been saturated. The 2020s, with their many planned launches, will therefore be crucial years for enforcing more effective debris mitigation and remediation measures.