Space debris is an inevitable fact of all space activity and will have to be dealt with in some way. The U.S. can develop methods to mitigate the risks from space debris when disabling target satellites but this should not be an overriding concern.
Keywords: Space Debris.
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Dangerous space debris is both man-made and natural, in the latter case in the form of micrometeoroids. Confusing the two is a great way to make the issue into more of a problem than it already is. The environment around Earth is certainly filled with space junk, but if this was as dangerous as has been claimed, spacecraft would be breaking up on an almost weekly basis. Space junk is a problem and always will be. The international agreements designed to mitigate the dangers have been useful, but cannot halt the creation of more debris any more than recycling laws halt the production of garbage. The trend has been moving in the right direction, at least until our Chinese friends decided to make a statement. Dinerman, Taylor. "Sticky airbags and grapples: kinetic ASATs without the debris." The Space Review. January 22, 2007.
Fortunately, a few years ago a proposal was floated for as class of weapons that would destroy target spacecraft without directly creating any debris. This type of "co-orbital" ASAT would approach its target and envelop it with an airbag covered in a type of sticky substance. It would then fire a thruster so that the conjoined satellites would burn up in the atmosphere. If it worked as designed, no debris would be created. In practice it would be no easy task to design, test, and operate such a weapon, but it is not beyond the state of the art and would not create any debris. Figuring out what kind of sticky material is right for such a system would, by itself, be a fascinating project. The substance might have applications in other military and perhaps civil space systems. If the sticky airbag solution proves too difficult, the same goals might be reached using an ASAT equipped with grappling arms that would grasp the target before pushing down towards the atmosphere. The challenges of such a system are evident, not the least of which would be the need for some sort of decision-making software that would choose the best places to seize the enemy satellite during the final moments before contact. Dinerman, Taylor. "Sticky airbags and grapples: kinetic ASATs without the debris." The Space Review. January 22, 2007.
Whatever happens the US should be wary of making too big a deal out of the orbital debris issue. All man-made activity in space produces debris. If the US or its allies worry too much about this question instead of simply deciding to live with it, the enemy will find ways of using this concern against the US, like in the case of the “collateral damage” question, where Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and others learned the lesson that when they kill civilians, they win, and when the US kills civilians, they win. If America’s space warriors concentrate on their primary mission, which is to defeat the enemy, destroy his space assets, and protect our own, all will be well. If, on the other hand, we end up concentrating on limiting the creation of space debris while avoiding the primary mission, we will hand the enemy a tool they will use to frustrate our goals. War is a dirty, messy business and cannot be waged cleanly, not in Baghdad nor in outer space. Dinerman, Taylor. "Sticky airbags and grapples: kinetic ASATs without the debris." The Space Review. January 22, 2007.
The National Space Policy commits the United States to seek the minimization of space debris by government and nongovernment activities. The United States should continue to play a strong leadership role in the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee, at the United Nations, and elsewhere, for the minimization of man-made space debris. At the same time, it should be recognized that space debris produced by human activity is quite low compared to that produced by nature. To minimize does not mean stopping all activities that would or might produce some debris. It is a relative not an absolute matter. U.S. national security requirements could take precedence over the goal of minimization of space debris –for example, the testing and use of ballistic missile defense interceptors against objects in space that would threaten populations, armed forces, and infrastructure. ( More ... ) U.S. State Department. Study on Space Policy: Report of the International Security Advisory Board. Washington, D.C.: U.S. State Department, April 27, 2007. [ 9 quotes ] [ page 10 ]