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These endeavours outside of Earth’s atmosphere leave a trace. Much like litter being left behind on a beach, with every journey into space we leave various pieces of debris behind.
This debris ranges in size, from large rocket bodies that have not descended to earth, to tiny specks of paint. As more spaceflight missions take place, the debris left behind multiplies.
The larger debris is easy to see and mitigate. However, smaller objects can be hard to detect by satellites. This is where problems arise. An object as small as a sugar cube in space holds as much energy as an exploding hand grenade. If a collision were to occur, the implications could be catastrophic.
Space is an environment, just like earth, and it should be used both sustainably and responsibly. This is an issue particularly relevant to geopolitics. With numerous countries deploying satellites into orbit, if one nation's assets were to suffer damage from debris originating from another, it could escalate tensions and spark conflict between the involved nations.
An ongoing challenge for space agencies worldwide is locating this space debris so satellites can avoid impact. It is a problem that will only exacerbate as more nations continue launching objects into space.
Solution
Simon Maskell, Professor of Autonomous Systems in the University of Liverpool’s department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, sits at the interface between computer science, engineering and statistics. Simon leads research supporting the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the European Space Agency (ESA) in space surveillance and developing novel methods to improve their ability to see these objects that pose a threat to military and commercial satellites.
A collaboration between University of Liverpool and University College London has helped develop a model of the system based on a fundamental understanding of the physics involved. Additional data is gathered by sensors that provide statistics about the debris to help us understand its movement through space.
By understanding the physics of space and the application of robust statistical analysis techniques we can apply advanced mathematical models to the data to map objects trajectory through earth’s orbit and glean whether they are hazardous to satellites.
These techniques are difficult to apply in the context of space surveillance, so progress needs to be made in improving the performance of these models to overcome difficulties in mapping debris in space.
Our impact
Liverpool researchers have developed efficient software powerful enough for the UK Space Agency, the MOD and ESA to enhance their surveillance capabilities.
The University of Liverpool has also worked with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), alongside the governments of the US, Australia, and Canada to create open-source software called Stone Soup which is a virtual environment for storing tracking algorithms. Stone Soup aims to conceive the solution of any tracking problem.
On the back of these successful collaborations, Liverpool has granted approval for a new spin-out that will provide a platform for this research to be applied with a commercial focus and an opportunity to develop more strategic partnerships and collaborations.
As scientific and technological advances accelerate, this technology could be needed beyond earth’s orbit and applied to surveillance of satellites orbiting Mars.
Space is a valuable resource that should be protected, like the oceans and the rainforests. If this research can help by enabling us to see what's there, it could be a key enabler to foster the sustainable and responsible use of space.
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