Space debris and situational awareness

Committee:
Space
status:
Some progress
Published:
Near-Earth space is a key resource for society, as crucial as Earth-bound resources. Space debris threaten vital current space systems and the availability of the resource for future projects. New micro-satellite constellations and other projects make a strong "space situational awareness" indispensable. Japan and Europe have a shared problem in making core small launchers of solid motor rockets, because micro-debris may arise from combustion gases ejected by solid motors. Both Japan and Europe are leaders in debris policies, and there is a high awareness about preserving the space environment.

Recommendations

  • Japan and Europe should continue increasing the scope of their cooperation in space situational awareness.
  • Japan and Europe started a cooperation discussion on the Electro Dynamic Tether debris removal devise. A strong support by JAXA is appreciated.
  • We recommend that Japan and Europe consider cooperating at government level on the debris problem incurred by the operation of core solid motor launchers as well as the soil contamination problem.