A U.S.-operated Iridium satellite -- one of a 66-member constellation of communications satellites -- and a Russian satellite designated Cosmos 2251 collided on February 10.
Both were completely destroyed, producing two large debris clouds.
The collision of these two spacecraft is being addressed this week in Vienna at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) 46th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee.
Brian Weeden, Technical Consultant for Secure World Foundation (SWF), will highlight the incident during his presentation to the COPUOS Subcommittee as an example of the need for a civil space situational awareness system.
The SWF notes on its web site that the safety and security of space operations requires that spacecraft operators know and understand the environment around their spacecraft. In the view of the Secure World Foundation, some form of international cooperative SSA effort will be needed in order to manage increasingly congested orbits, especially those in the popular GSO and sun synchronous orbits (SSO), where many of our most important satellites and space missions are located.
Space Surveillance Network
Currently, says the SWF, only the United States, with its Space Surveillance Network (SSN) has the technical capability that comes close to what is needed for effective SSA. However, not all of the data are shared publicly because of concerns that they could be used to harm U.S. security interests. Russia and Europe have tracking systems, but these are much less capable than their U.S. counterparts. China, meanwhile, is in the process of developing its SSA capability. Building on previous related work, the Secure World Foundation is participating in international efforts to establish an international SSA system that will make it possible for the community of space faring countries to manage their satellites safely and efficiently."Clearly, achieving such a cooperative arrangement will depend on an integrated information environment populated by data gathered cooperatively from the international community," says the SWF. "Not only do we need technologies that track objects and events in space, we need technologies that do not exacerbate the pollution problem. We also need to share that information with all operators across the globe. Imagine if countries refused to share information necessary to operate aircraft and ships at sea. Operating in these environments would be dangerous indeed."
