ESA's Sentinel-1A satellite narrowly dodges debris
(2022/04/04)
- Reference: 1649064611
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/04/04/sentinel_1a/
- Source link:
There was a sigh of relief from ESA controllers over the weekend as the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite successfully dodged a decades-old rocket fragment.
The debris' closing speed was over 50,000 kmph (∼31,068 mph) and it was expected to come close enough that controllers opted to perform a pair of thruster burns in order to lift the satellite 100 meters (∼328ft) above the predicted point of closest approach.
One of the engineers responsible for flying the spacecraft, Thomas Ormston, summed things up with the inevitable meme.
[1]#MissionControl for [2]#Sentinel1 right now... (all in a day's work 😏😜) [3]https://t.co/BIFk60FsPe [4]pic.twitter.com/gK8t9toXiX — Thomas Ormston (@ThomasOrmston) [5]April 1, 2022
Quite.
Controllers had time to plan the maneuver, however, the incident is a reminder of the increasing clutter lurking in orbit around the Earth. ESA described the object as "a 30-year-old fragment", which astronomer Jonathan McDowell [6]identified as being a bit of an old [7]Zenit rocket stage . ESA [8]later confirmed this was indeed the case.
[9]
Sentinel-1A, a radar imaging satellite launched in 2014, has run into debris before. One of the solar arrays [10]was smacked with a millimeter-size particle in 2016, resulting in a small drop in power and a sudden change in the orientation and orbit of the satellite. Such small fragments cannot be tracked. However, a lump of rocket stage most assuredly can be.
[11]
[12]
Unfortunately, the second of the two Sentinel-1 satellites, imaginatively named Sentinel-1B, remains out of action following a problem with the power bus supplying the Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) instrument. While the spacecraft remains under control, users of the information collected by it [13]were warned to "assume a long-term unavailability of data provision."
"It is however too early to consider a permanent unavailability of Sentinel-1B," said ESA.
[14]OneWeb drops launches from Russia's Baikonur spaceport
[15]ESA-Russia Mars rover launch on ice after Ukraine invasion
[16]Galileo satnav system gets two new somewhat confusing satellites
[17]Russia: It isn't just us – a bit of an old US rocket might get as close as 5.4km to the ISS
Both Sentinel-1A and 1B were launched on Soyuz rockets from Arianespace's Kourou launch site. The next in the series, Sentinel-1C, was planned for launch in 2023 – although given the situation regarding [18]European vehicles flying on Russian rockets , launching on time, let alone bringing things forward, seems unlikely.
Which leaves Sentinel-1A, which has already comfortably exceeded its seven-year mission life.
[19]
"With every manoeuver, something – fuel, time, science data – is lost," [20]said the ESA operations team .
And as the clutter increases above the Earth, and current events demonstrate the criticality of orbital infrastructure, " [21]Avoiding collisions alone is not a long-term solution. " ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissionControl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[2] https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sentinel1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://t.co/BIFk60FsPe
[4] https://t.co/gK8t9toXiX
[5] https://twitter.com/ThomasOrmston/status/1510026501122674708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1509983134900576261
[7] https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/368763
[8] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1510003851604156417
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Copernicus_Sentinel-1A_satellite_hit_by_space_particle
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://scihub.copernicus.eu/news/News01005
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/oneweb_roscosmos/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/01/rosalind_franklin_russia_mars_rover/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/06/galileos_debut_first_gen_satellites/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/iss_debris/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/oneweb_roscosmos/
[19] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[20] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1509881228547309574
[21] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1509888002964824064
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The debris' closing speed was over 50,000 kmph (∼31,068 mph) and it was expected to come close enough that controllers opted to perform a pair of thruster burns in order to lift the satellite 100 meters (∼328ft) above the predicted point of closest approach.
One of the engineers responsible for flying the spacecraft, Thomas Ormston, summed things up with the inevitable meme.
[1]#MissionControl for [2]#Sentinel1 right now... (all in a day's work 😏😜) [3]https://t.co/BIFk60FsPe [4]pic.twitter.com/gK8t9toXiX — Thomas Ormston (@ThomasOrmston) [5]April 1, 2022
Quite.
Controllers had time to plan the maneuver, however, the incident is a reminder of the increasing clutter lurking in orbit around the Earth. ESA described the object as "a 30-year-old fragment", which astronomer Jonathan McDowell [6]identified as being a bit of an old [7]Zenit rocket stage . ESA [8]later confirmed this was indeed the case.
[9]
Sentinel-1A, a radar imaging satellite launched in 2014, has run into debris before. One of the solar arrays [10]was smacked with a millimeter-size particle in 2016, resulting in a small drop in power and a sudden change in the orientation and orbit of the satellite. Such small fragments cannot be tracked. However, a lump of rocket stage most assuredly can be.
[11]
[12]
Unfortunately, the second of the two Sentinel-1 satellites, imaginatively named Sentinel-1B, remains out of action following a problem with the power bus supplying the Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) instrument. While the spacecraft remains under control, users of the information collected by it [13]were warned to "assume a long-term unavailability of data provision."
"It is however too early to consider a permanent unavailability of Sentinel-1B," said ESA.
[14]OneWeb drops launches from Russia's Baikonur spaceport
[15]ESA-Russia Mars rover launch on ice after Ukraine invasion
[16]Galileo satnav system gets two new somewhat confusing satellites
[17]Russia: It isn't just us – a bit of an old US rocket might get as close as 5.4km to the ISS
Both Sentinel-1A and 1B were launched on Soyuz rockets from Arianespace's Kourou launch site. The next in the series, Sentinel-1C, was planned for launch in 2023 – although given the situation regarding [18]European vehicles flying on Russian rockets , launching on time, let alone bringing things forward, seems unlikely.
Which leaves Sentinel-1A, which has already comfortably exceeded its seven-year mission life.
[19]
"With every manoeuver, something – fuel, time, science data – is lost," [20]said the ESA operations team .
And as the clutter increases above the Earth, and current events demonstrate the criticality of orbital infrastructure, " [21]Avoiding collisions alone is not a long-term solution. " ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissionControl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[2] https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sentinel1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://t.co/BIFk60FsPe
[4] https://t.co/gK8t9toXiX
[5] https://twitter.com/ThomasOrmston/status/1510026501122674708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1509983134900576261
[7] https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/368763
[8] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1510003851604156417
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Copernicus_Sentinel-1A_satellite_hit_by_space_particle
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://scihub.copernicus.eu/news/News01005
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/oneweb_roscosmos/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/01/rosalind_franklin_russia_mars_rover/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/06/galileos_debut_first_gen_satellites/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/iss_debris/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/03/oneweb_roscosmos/
[19] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YkrB1Wiw62hh4rm3CyFpLAAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[20] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1509881228547309574
[21] https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1509888002964824064
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Clutter must go
And yet we launch more into space, increasing the clutter as we go. There are numerous problems cleaning up.
The fact remains that every single launch puts debris in orbit. So a cleaning mission will add to the clutter before it can start removing some. And how exactly are we going to catch and clean a 5000+ m/s fast bullet sized particle? Lets face it, most of the small stuff will be there for a very long time generating more and more clutter as time passes. It is almost like waiting for a chain reaction to start.