Dynamical evolution of debris clouds in geosynchronous orbit

Pardini A, Anselmo L

Geosynchronous orbit  Astronomy and Astrophysics  Fragmentation events  Geophysics  Long-term evolution  Atmospheric Science  Debris clouds  Aerospace Engineering  General Earth and Planetary Sciences  Space and Planetary Science 

Optical observations have discovered a substantial amount of decimeter sized objects in orbits close to the geosynchronous altitude. Most of these are probably the result of a still undetermined number of explosions occurred to spacecraft and upper stages. So far, however, only two or three fragmentations have been confirmed near GEO and the identification of further explosions at a so high altitude is made difficult by the long time passed since the occurrence of the events and by the effects of the orbital perturbations on the resulting debris clouds. In order to assist the optical observers in identifying debris clouds due to explosions in proximity of the geosynchronous region, a set of fragmentations has been simulated, taking into account a reasonable range of ejection velocities as a function of the fragment size. The resulting debris clouds have been propagated, including all the relevant orbital perturbations, for several decades and the results obtained are presented as snapshots, at given post-explosion times, in the orbital elements space.

Source: ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH, vol. 35 (issue 7), pp. 1303-1312

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