Space Horizon Roundtable: “Monitoring and Tracking Space Objects”

As part of the Space Horizon programme of the Horizons Network, the Carlos III University (UC3M) in Madrid and Isdefe organised a roundtable to go over the technologies that are needed to track and monitor space junk.

On 20 June, at the conference room in the Madrid-Puerta de Toledo campus of the UC3M, representatives from industry companies, along with experts from the UC3M and representatives from the General Directorate of Armaments and Materiel, SatCen (EU Satellite Centre) and Isdefe, sat down to explain how these tracking systems work, as well as the technological challenges to improving them.

Isdefe was represented by the Space Manager of the Space and Technology Centres Department, Ms. Rosa María Pulido Puerto, at this roundtable, which relied on the document “Tracking and Monitoring Space Debris. Analysis of the Institutional Framework and Primary Areas of Current Research and Development”, written by the Space Horizon of the Horizons Network. The findings from this roundtable will be added to this document.

The increased use of near-Earth space has resulted in some orbits being populated by numerous defunct satellites and satellite fragments. The presence of this “space debris” can pose risks, which is why we need to know the location of this debris in space.

We also need to know the descent trajectory of defunct satellites that are falling to Earth so as to prevent and avoid any potential damage they might cause.

These needs have led the European Commission to endorse the creation of a new European service to track and monitor these objects in order to reduce the risk of collision between operational satellites and space debris, and to provide information on re-entry events involving satellites in Earth orbit.

This monitoring and tracking initiative was implemented by creating a consortium of five EU-member nations that have committed to developing the capabilities needed to provide these services. The centre tasked with coordinating and providing said services, SatCen, is located in Torrejón de Ardoz.