ISRO is building orbital debris tracking capacities

Last Updated31/03/2022

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes with space junk posing an increasing threat to Indian assets in space
It will be done under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

Space junk or debris consist of spent rocket stages, dead satellites, fragments of space objects and debris resulting from ASAT.
Hurtling at an average speed of 27,000 kmph in LEO, these objects pose a very real threat as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.

A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA
It will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size.
It will be indigenously designed and built
Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects including orbital junk.
Two such radars deployed 1,000 km apart for spatial diversity.
ISRO's efforts towards space situational awareness (SSA) is coordinated by the SSA Control Centre in Bengaluru and managed by the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management at the ISRO headquarters.

The threats from debris restrict the unhindered access to space and their mitigation is necessary for unhindered access to space
Data released by the ISRO point to an increasingly grim scenario regarding space debris
For protecting its space assets, the ISRO was forced to perform 19 collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) in 2021, of which 14 were in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and five in the geostationary orbit, according to ISRO's Space Situational Assessment for the year.
The number of CAMs jumped from just three in 2015 to 12 in 2020 and 19 in 2021.

Space debris could potentially create unusable regions of orbit due to proliferation of debris objects and the associated increase in collision risk due to the resultant congestion.
It may lead to “Kessler Syndrome”, a situation in which a collision in space results in cascading collisions leading to the generation of more and more debris fragments, ultimately prohibiting meaningful use of outer space.

With the ever-increasing trend in the object population in outer space, it is imperative for all responsible space faring entities to limit the creation of space debris by conforming to space debris mitigation guidelines. Monitoring of space objects is an essential component for continual assessment of the space situation and devising appropriate mitigation strategies for space asset protection. Towards this goal, space object observation capabilities need to be enhanced through the establishment of necessary infrastructure.

Prelims take away

Mains Track

Discuss the relevance of the Debris Tracking Programme of ISRO in the present context.