Other Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Commercial Space Situational Awareness (Ssa) Capabilities And Their Benefits For Civilian Space Traffic Management (Stm), Mark A. Skinner

Space Traffic Management Conference

Paralleling (but lagging) satellite development, SSA, long the sole domain of sophisticated militaries, now includes commercial providers. These commercial capabilities, identified as beneficial to the sustainable use of outer space[1], have demonstrated technical sophistication sufficient to positively contribute to the mitigation of satellite interference and provide actionable SSA information. Utilizing small optical telescopes, these entities are able to determine the orbits of objects in the geosynchronous orbit (GSO) to sizes as small as 1 m², with measured positional uncertainties of 10s of meters, on the order of the size of a modern communications satellite. These techniques …

Sub-Orbital Spaceflight – An Addition To Our Multi-Modal Transportation System, Scott Haeffelin

Space Traffic Management Conference

The number of commercial spaceflights will be increasing by orders of magnitude over the next several decades. The current volume of space traffic can be managed on a case-by-case basis and there is little impact to the National Airspace System (NAS). This will change as more spaceports become operational, commercial sub-orbital flight companies begin serving their customers and as the cost of these flights begin to decrease. Current regulatory paths seek to allow the flexibility in the regulations for this industry to flourish while also maintaining a high standard of safety. There are, however, many nearsighted and old fashioned assumptions …

Space Data Integrator (Sdi) And Space Program Integrated Data And Estimated Risk (Spider): Proof-Of-Concept Software Solution For Integrating Launch And Reentry Vehicles Into The National Airspace System (Nas), Devin D. Dickens

Space Traffic Management Conference

The Space Data Integrator (SDI) Project is the initial step to satisfy the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strategic initiative to integrate commercial space launch and reentry vehicles into the National Airspace System. The project addresses the needs for greater situational awareness and monitoring, and increased response capability during non-nominal and catastrophic incidents during space operations.

The initial phase of this project leverages current FAA systems, and provide an initial demonstration of capability that will provide for state data from a commercial reentry vehicle to be ingested into a the FAA Traffic Flow Management System, and displayed on Traffic Situation Displays. …

The History Of Space Debris, Loretta Hall

Space Traffic Management Conference

This paper examines what space debris consists of and where it came from. In 1958, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh published the results of his research into the existence of natural debris near the Earth, concluding that no such debris existed. During the ensuing fifty-five years, man-made debris has been accumulating to the point that it threatens launches, active satellites, and the International Space Station. NASA reported that as of 2013, more than 21,000 pieces the size of a softball or larger were being tracked, as were about 500,000 pieces at least the size of a marble and “many millions” of pieces …