Space Debris Management
Recognizing the growing importance of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) for space sustainability, the ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM) has been established to focus all efforts related to spaceflight safety and debris mitigation and to deal with the emerging challenges of operating in a congested space environment.
The Government of India has approved a network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) for SSA capacity building.
ISRO adheres to the internationally accepted space debris mitigation guidelines recommended by UN -COPOUS and the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) to the maximum extent possible.
For all Indian launch vehicles, Collision Avoidance Analysis (COLA) is performed to select collision threat-free lift-off time within the launch window. Continual assessments of any close approach risk to ISRO’s operational satellites are carried out, and collision avoidance maneuvers (CAM) are performed as and when needed. Suppose the object posing a close approach risk is another active satellite. In that case, the required coordination is carried out with the owner/operator so that only one of the satellites performs the CAM. Continual efforts to improve the operational methodologies for close approach assessment are pursued to adapt to the challenges posed by the surging space traffic, apart from modeling on-orbit break-up events and predicting atmospheric re-entries of space objects.
ISRO contributes substantially to shaping the pertinent guidelines and recommendations for sustainable space use as an active member of various international agencies dealing with the safety and sustainability of outer space activities, such as IADC, IAA (International Academy of Astronautics), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IAF (International Astronautical Federation), and the UN Long Term Sustainability Working Group.
The Indian Space Policy places significant importance on space debris mitigation requirements and SSA capacity building.
The recently unveiled Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM) initiative is also spearheaded by ISRO. Its aim is to achieve debris-free space missions by all Indian space actors, both governmental and non-governmental, by 2030. The initiative aligns with global efforts for space sustainability, positioning India as a nation prioritizing safety, security, and sustainability in outer space activities.
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Reference: PIB