National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Orbital Debris
Quarterly News
Volume 27, Issue 2
June 2023

ISS Maneuvers Twice in a Week’s

Inside... Span to Avoid Potential Collisions
The International Space Station (ISS) 14 March 2023 at 11:54 GMT to avoid a
DAS Release 2 performed a Predetermined Debris Avoidance high-risk conjunction with Cosmos 1408 debris
Maneuver (PDAM) on 06 March 2023 at (1982-092PZ, Catalog Number 49982). This
12:42 GMT to avoid a projected high-risk debris was created by the November 2021
Recent Advances in
conjunction with the NUSAT-17 MARY anti-satellite test on Cosmos 1408 by the
Modeling Hollow Objects spacecraft. This vehicle (International Russian Federation (ODQN vol. 26, issue 1,
During Reentry 3 Designator 2020-079J, U.S. Satellite March 2022, pp. 1-5). The 83P Progress vehicle’s
Catalog Number 46835) is an Argentinean thrusters were again used to perform a
Two Years of Space Traffic: Earth observation spacecraft launched on 0.3 m/s posigrade maneuver. ISS apogee
Current Trends in 06 November 2020. The PDAM was executed and perigee altitudes were raised by
using the 83P Progress vehicle’s thrusters for 0.73 km and 0.40 km, respectively.
New Payloads and
a 0.7 m/s posigrade maneuver. The ISS apogee These events constitute the 34th and 35th
Debris in Orbit 4 and perigee altitudes were raised by 1.14 km collision avoidance maneuvers conducted by
and 1.37 km, respectively. the ISS against tracked objects since 1999. ♦
Overview of ORDEM Web A second PDAM was conducted on
Application Features 6

Workshop Report 10 Three Minor Breakups in

Upcoming Meetings 11 First Quarter of 2023
The first breakup of calendar year 2023 Readers are referred to a prior ODQN news
Space Missions and occurred on 04 January 2023 at 03:57 GMT article for a description of Cosmos 2491-class
Satellite Box Score 11-12 when the Cosmos 2499 spacecraft suffered vehicles, of which Cosmos 2499 is a member
its second known breakup event after more (ODQN vol. 24, issue 1, February 2020, p. 3).
than 8 years on orbit, and 1.2 years after the As noted in that article, vehicles of this class,
23 October 2021 event (ODQN vol. 26, issue 1, predicated upon their observed orbital
March 2022, p. 7). The vehicle (International behavior, likely feature multiple stored energy
ITA
LD
EBRIS PROG
R
Designator 2014-028E, U.S. Satellite Catalog elements that may have initiated or contributed
Number 39765) had an orbital apogee and to the breakup process.
AM
B
OR

OFF
NASA

perigee altitude of 1537 km and 1163 km, The second breakup of 2023 occurred
ICE

respectively, with an inclination of 82.45°. on 10 February 2023 between 09:00 and

MEA

ON
AT I
SU

IG

ME
RE

In addition to the parent body, 21:35 GMT, when the new Indian Small Satellite
M
IT

NT
S
MODELING

20 fragments (piece tags AD-AY, corresponding Launch Vehicle’s (SSLV) SS3 solid fuel third stage
A publication of the to Catalog Numbers 55717 to 55736) have fragmented after a 03:48 GMT launch from
NASA Orbital Debris entered the catalog. A Gabbard plot of this the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The 2500 kg
Program Office (ODPO) debris cloud is presented in the figure. continued on page 2
 Orbital Debris Quarterly News

Three Minor Breakups

continued from page 1

dry mass (estimated) stage (2023-019D, Catalog

Number 55565) was in a 442 × 357 km altitude,
37.2° inclination orbit when it broke up. This was
the second launch of the SSLV. In addition to the
SS3 parent body, five fragments (piece tags F-K,
Catalog Numbers 55567, 55568, and 55737-9)
were cataloged. All five breakup fragments
reentered between 07 and 24 March 2023.
The third breakup of 2023 was that of
the ORBCOMM FM 36 spacecraft (1999-065E,
Catalog Number 25984), which broke up on
11 March 2023, 23.28 years after launch. This
small, 45 kg communications spacecraft was
the third of its kind to breakup, following FM 5
(ODQN vol. 26, issue 1, March 2022, p. 7) and
FM 16 (ODQN vol. 23, issues 1 & 2, May 2019,
pp. 1-2); readers are referred to the FM 16
article for a description of the vehicle and its
inventory of stored energy. The spacecraft was
in a 793 × 776 km altitude, 45.0° inclination orbit
at the time of the event. As of 25 April 2023, no
Figure. The Cosmos 2499 Gabbard plot. Epoch is approximately 20 March 2023. debris objects other than the parent body have
Maximum changes in orbital parameters are 3 minutes in period and 0.56° in entered the catalog. ♦
inclination. This event is more energetic than the prior 23 October 2021 event.

Debris Assessment Software 3.2.4 Release

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has released version 3.2.4 of the Debris Assessment Software (DAS), replacing
the prior September 2022 release of DAS 3.2.3. The updated version provides data that can verify compliance of a spacecraft,
upper stage, and/or payload with NASA’s requirements for limiting debris generation, spacecraft vulnerability, post-mission
disposal, and reentry safety.
This release incorporates updates to the user-defined material models for reentry calculations, a new automatic-upgrade
feature for DAS project files for improved backwards compatibility, and a change to the solar flux table format.
Successful verification of a design in DAS demonstrates compliance with NASA orbital debris mitigation requirements.
Historically, DAS analysis has proven acceptable in meeting the compliance requirements of agencies in the U.S. and around
the world. It does not address the inherent design reliability facets of NASA requirements but addresses all Earth-related
orbital debris requirements that make up the bulk of the requirements in the NASA Technical Standard 8719.14C. To calculate
penetration risk from meteoroids, users should consult the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office and Hypervelocity Impact
Technology teams for assessments.
For new users, DAS is available for download by permission only. An application must be completed via the NASA Software
Catalog. To begin the process, click on the Request Software button in the catalog at https://software.nasa.gov/software/
MSC-26690-1.
Users who have completed the software request process for earlier versions of DAS 3.x do not need to reapply for
DAS 3.2.4. Simply go to your existing account on the NASA Software Portal and download the latest installer. Due to file size
limits, the installer has been split into several .zip archive files: the main installer and five separate files containing debris
environment data. Users must download the main installer (which includes the debris environment for years 2016 to 2030) and
additional environment files required to assess mission years beyond 2030.
Approval for DAS is on a per project basis: approval encompasses activities and personnel working within the project scope
identified in the application.

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 https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

PROJECT REVIEW
Recent Advances in Modeling Hollow Objects
During Reentry
C. OSTROM, B. GREENE, AND J. MARICHALAR Table. List of geometric variables for wind tunnel test series.
Since 2018, the NASA Orbital Debris Program
Office (ODPO) has undertaken a project to build and Diameter or Width Length Inner Hole Size
Cross Section
(inches) (inches) (inches)
validate models for aerodynamic drag and aeroheating
of hollow objects during atmospheric reentry [1, 2]. Circle 0.5 0.125 0 (Solid)

These efforts have been performed primarily in gas Circle 0.5 0.125 0.05
dynamic simulations of conditions relevant to reentry Circle 0.5 0.125 0.25
from low Earth orbit (LEO) using NASA’s Direct Circle 0.5 0.125 0.45
Simulation Monte Carlo Analysis Code, or DAC. The Circle 0.5 0.5 0 (Solid)
second phase of this project is ongoing, expanding
Circle 0.5 0.5 0.05
the matrix of flow conditions and geometries from
the previous 81 simulation cases to nearly 1000 and Circle 0.5 0.5 0.25

utilizing the results to reduce the uncertainty in the Circle 0.5 0.5 0.45
drag and heating coefficients used in the ODPO’s Circle 0.5 1.5 0 (Solid)
Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool (ORSAT) for the Circle 0.5 1.5 0.05
proposed hollow object model. The goal of this effort Circle 0.5 1.5 0.25
is to validate the current model assumptions, but also
Circle 0.5 1.5 0.45
provide updates to the ORSAT drag and aeroheating
Square 0.5 0.125 0 (Solid)
models for an expanded set of reentering object shapes.
In parallel with the numerical simulations, the Square 0.5 0.125 0.05
ODPO began a partnership with the University of Square 0.5 0.125 0.25
Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) Hypersonics Lab and Square 0.5 0.125 0.45
conducted a test series using the on-site Mach 7 Wind Square 0.5 0.5 0 (Solid)
Tunnel in October and November of 2022. The main
Square 0.5 0.5 0.05
purpose of this test series was to demonstrate that
Square 0.5 0.5 0.25
a Mach 7 wind tunnel could provide data sufficient
to build and validate a drag and aeroheating model Square 0.5 0.5 0.45
for implementation into ORSAT. This joint research Square 0.5 1.5 0 (Solid)
project follows previous successful partnerships Square 0.5 1.5 0.05
with the University of Texas at Austin (ODQN Square 0.5 1.5 0.25
vol. 22, issue 3, p. 3, September 2018; ODQN vol.
Square 0.5 1.5 0.45
23, issue 3, pp. 3-5, August 2019; and ODQN vol. 24,
issue 2, pp. 5-6, April 2020).
A simple test matrix of 24 cases was designed to
establish a performance baseline for the wind tunnel
(see Table). Some of the test samples, made from
aluminum and 3D-printed photopolymer, can be
seen in Figure 1. All test cases were intended to run
at a stagnation temperature of 700 K and a stagnation
pressure of approximately 90 to 120 psi; the wind
tunnel configuration [3] determined a test run time
of around 0.1 seconds, sufficient to provide steady-
state flow that could be compared with simulations
using NASA’s hypersonic computational fluid dynamics
solver Data Parallel Line Relaxation Code.
The test objects were released at the beginning
of each run, allowing them to fly freely in the test
section. The UTSA Hypersonics Lab developed a 3-D
object tracking code incorporating multiple highspeed
cameras. This new tracking code produces both

continued on page 4 Figure 1. A selection of square and right circular cylinder wind tunnel test samples.

3
 Orbital Debris Quarterly News

Modeling Advances
continued from page 3
translational and rotational information for the object during the As a stretch goal for the test series, UTSA and the ODPO
entire test or until the object moves beyond the visible part of tested the performance of the wind tunnel using helium as the test
the test section. A snapshot image of the tracking code’s output gas rather than air. This change was expected to change the test
can be seen in Figure 2, indicating the position and attitude of section Mach number from approximately 7.0 to approximately
the object at this time stamp. Given the centroid coordinates and 11.5 at the possible cost of degradation of the smoothness
rotation angle of the object during a time series, the following of the flow in the test section. While the tests at Mach 7.0
parameters can be computed: drag, lift, and moment coefficients. provided valuable validation data, a Mach number of 11.5 more
In addition to these kinetic measurements, temperature closely matches the Mach number of reentering spacecraft at
variations were analyzed using temperature sensitive paint (TSP) an altitude of between 60 km and 80 km, the altitude at which
on 20 of the 24 test objects and high-speed infrared cameras for spacecraft typically encounter peak aerodynamic and heating
all 24 test objects, an example of which can be seen in Figure 3. effects. The two tests indicated that the Mach number indeed
TSP allows temperature measurements to be collected at the increased but only to approximately 11.0 due to unanticipated
frame rate of the high-speed cameras. The lower frame-rate viscous effects. The flow in the test section also did not appear
infrared camera measurements can be used to validate and to be significantly degraded. These two test shots demonstrated
calibrate the TSP. The measured temperature variations with time additional capability at the UTSA Wind Tunnel facility to achieve
were used to compute heat flux over the visible surface of the flow conditions relevant to critical phases of atmospheric reentry.
test objects. Data processing is still underway to finalize the object tracking
and TSP calibration. Once this data
processing is complete, these tests
will provide valuable validation data
to compare to ORSAT hollow object
drag models.

References
1. Marichalar, J. and Ostrom,
C. “Estimating Drag and Heating
Coefficients for Hollow Reentry
Objects in Transitional Flow Using
DSMC [Direct Simulation Monte
Carlo],” International Orbital Debris
Conference, 2019.
2. Ostrom, C. “Challenges
Figure 2. Snapshot of tracking code output for a 3 to 1 length-to-diameter cylinder. in Modeling Hollow Objects in
the Transition Flow Regime,”
Aerothermodynamics and Design for
Demise (ATD3) Workshop 2021.
3. Hoffman, E. et al.
“Characterization of the UTSA
Mach 7 Ludwieg Tube,” American
Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics SciTech Forum 2022. ♦

Figure 3. Three snapshots of a free-flying 1 to 1 length-to-diameter cylinder showing TSP fluorescence

intensity, which is indirectly proportional to temperature.

4
 https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

Two Years of Space Traffic: Current Trends in

New Payloads and Debris in Orbit
B. GREENE
The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO)
maintains an internal database based on information
available in the U.S. Satellite Catalog to define the
historical, current, and predictions of the future state of
the objects in Earth orbit. Each satellite is assigned an
object type (spacecraft, upper stage, or debris), size, and
wet and dry mass, if known, which are used within models
of the orbital evolution of objects to assess orbit lifetime,
the likelihood of collisions and explosions, and to estimate
how they may influence the orbital debris environment
directly or indirectly, singly or in aggregate.
Over the past two years, an average of 975 new tracked
objects have been added to the catalog each quarter. New
objects are added to the catalog when they are initially
released on independent orbits, whether by a launch Figure 1. Pie diagram of object categories for all tracked objects added to the
vehicle, a parent spacecraft during normal operation, or an catalog since Q2 CY2021.
anomalous event or breakup event. Independent objects
temporarily attached to another object and released again
later, such as a Dragon spacecraft docked to the ISS or a
Shenzhou spacecraft docked to the Tiangong space station,
are only counted once and do not get a new designation
upon re-release. An analysis of the number and mass of
different classes of objects illustrates trends in the space
industry and the orbital population. Knowledge of these
trends in how the space environment is being used can
help inform space policy.
Figure 1 compares broad categories of new objects
added to the catalog from the second quarter (Q2) of
calendar year (CY) 2021 to Q1 CY2023. Over a third of
all new objects came from the fragmentation of existing
satellites (37.8% total). Mission-related debris (MRD),
or inert objects released by a satellite during normal
operation, accounted for 4.4% of all new objects.
The majority of these are payload encapsulation or
attachment hardware released during spacecraft
deployment. Spent rocket bodies and orbit insertion
motors accounted for 2.8% of new objects. The remaining Figure 2. Small/non-constellation, large constellation, debris, and rocket body
55.1% of objects that added to the space traffic from counts by quarter.
Q2 CY2021 through Q1 CY2023 are spacecraft.
MRD production and discrete breakup events. Generally, the
Some trends are also evident in a quarter-by-quarter look
background rate of MRD production is 40 to 80 objects per
at relative numbers of objects in four main categories. Figure 2
quarter with another 50 to 100 objects added every quarter from
shows the number of new objects each quarter in the debris,
old breakup events and small anomalous events. In Figure 2, two
large constellation (over 100 satellites), small constellation/single
peaks in debris object creation correlate to two large breakup
satellite payloads, and rocket bodies’ category. Over the past two
events: the Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) test on Cosmos 1408
years, the launch cadence has increased. It should be noted that
on 15 November 2021 and the breakup of a Long March 6A
the number of rocket bodies in the catalog do not represent all
upper stage on 13 November 2022.
launches, as many larger rocket upper stages perform a targeted
Large constellation launches have placed a relatively steady
de-orbit burn at end of mission and are never tracked for more
number of objects into orbit for most of the last two years and
than one or two rotations. The launch cadence also shows a
comprise more than half of all payloads launched. A short,
periodicity, with fewer launches in the first quarter and a slow
two-quarter lull in large constellation payloads occurred in the
ramp-up over the course of the year.
final two quarters of 2021, during which several legal stays on
The number of debris objects added to the catalog
further Starlink launches were requested.
at any given time is largely driven by a background rate of
continued on page 6

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 Orbital Debris Quarterly News

Space Traffic Trends

continued from page 5

Table. Mass range definitions for spacecraft size categories Breaking down the payloads by size and membership in a
large constellation highlights some of the reasons that payload
Category Mass Range launches have increased. The satellite community uses various
Femtosat < 1 kg categories for different masses of satellites, and these may vary
in definition depending on source. For purposes of this analysis,
Picosat 1 – 10 kg
the categories of satellites as a function of mass are defined in
Nanosat 10 – 50 kg the Table.
Figure 3 shows the category breakdown of all payloads for
Microsat 50 – 100 kg
the last two years, and clearly indicates the recent trend towards
Minisat 100 – 300 kg large constellations and small payloads; nearly three quarters of
all payloads are members of a large constellation and over half
Medium Sat 300 kg – 1 ton
of the remaining payloads have a mass of less than 100 kg each.
Large Sat 1 ton – 5 ton Nearly 8% of all payloads are CubeSats with dry masses under
Very Large Sat > 5 ton 15 kg. Less than 7% of payloads did not have sufficient information
for classification, thus marked as uncategorized in Figure 3.
The number of small constellations (with
Very Large Sat (0.2%) fewer than 100 members, such as FLOCK,
Large Sat (1.8%) LEMUR, and GlobalHawk) and single-satellite
Medium Sat (0.7%) payloads launched has also increased since
Uncategorized (6.7%)
Minisats (1.3%) 2021, as shown in the total objects for each
Microsats (2.7%) PocketQube (0.4%)
quarter in Figure 4. This increase is mostly driven
Nanosats (0.8%) Crewed Spacecraft (0.6%) by ride-share launches, dedicated multiple
Cubesats (7.6%) deployment missions like SpaceX’s “Transporter”
SpaceBEE (2.4%) launches, a burgeoning launch market for
Picosats (0.4%) dedicated sub-100 kg payloads, and technology
advances that allow more functionality in smaller,
OneWeb (11.5%) lower-mass packages. With the exception
of Q4 2022, the overall trend in launching
massive (payloads > 5 tons) is minimal; less than
15 payloads over the course of two years have
exceeded this metric with Q4 2022 accounting
Starlink (63.0%) for 3. This is in contrast to the number of small
satellites (< 0.5 ton) that, on average has risen
Figure 3. Pie diagram of payload categories for all payloads added to the catalog from over the past two years. Satellites smaller than
Q2 2021 to Q1 2023. 30 kg (Picosats and smaller) make up more than
half of these smaller payloads almost every
quarter, and even smaller form-factor satellites
150 are becoming popular, with more than half of
all PocketQube spacecraft (Femtosats) ever
launched making it to orbit in 2022.
Femtosats/PocketQube
Monitoring the historical space traffic
Tracked Payloads

100 Picosats/Cubesats environment allows the ODPO to project

Nanosats future space traffic and statistically assess a
Microsats realistic space debris environment attributable
Minisats to explosions and collisions. This provides the
50 Medium Sats ODPO with the tools it needs to develop models
that can be used to understand mission risk
Large Sats
and evaluate realistic and actionable mitigation
Very Large Sats options. Additionally, monitoring space traffic
0 can identify important trends in the space
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 industry and the influence of these trends on
the environment. ♦
'21 '21 '21 '22 '22 '22 '22 '23

Figure 4. Payload categories by quarter, excluding the large constellation spacecraft:

SpaceBEE, Starlink, and OneWeb.

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 https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

Overview of the ORDEM Web Application Features

A. VAVRIN
The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office’s
(ODPO) Orbital Debris Engineering Model
(ORDEM) is widely used by mission designers
and operators (NASA, U.S. government, industry,
and the international community) for orbital
debris impact risk assessments. To better
serve the user community and support NASA
Headquarters’ Digital Transformation Initiative,
ORDEM is now available as a cloud-based web
application, unveiled in ODQN, vol. 26, issue 2,
p. 1. The ORDEM web application includes the
current features of the publicly released ORDEM
software (version 3.2) with an upgraded, frontend
design. The underlying ORDEM mathematical
model is the same as the standalone ORDEM 3.2,
but instead of running these computations on a
user’s workstation, it runs on a cloud container.
This allows the user to run multiple spacecraft
and telescope/radar mode simulations in
parallel from the web browser of their choice in
a cloud-based environment, thus minimizing any Figure 1. ORDEM web app home page.
user specific computer limitations.
A brief workflow for completing an ORDEM
run is as follows. After logging in with the
proper credentials, the user is directed to the
home page of the ORDEM web application,
shown in Figure 1. The user can select one of
the assessment modes from the top menu
and can complete the form by entering the
orbital elements (for Spacecraft mode) or
sensor geometries (for Telescope/Radar mode)
of their asset. The user can enter multiple
orbit simulations or sensor geometries to
the assessment. Upon completion, the user
sends their assessment to the cloud, and
the ORDEM backend interface will generate
a unique job identification (job-id) for these Figure 2. Spacecraft mode page.
tasks. This newly created 36-character job-id
will be displayed on screen, and the user will be
redirected to the Job Status page (also accessible
from the top menu). The user can download the
results after the job completes.
The assessment modes have a common
page and button layout with the same fields as
the standalone frontend option, as well as new
options exclusive to the ORDEM web app. For
spacecraft assessments, as shown in Figure 2,
each set of orbital elements is assigned an auto-
generated number once added to the task table.
For telescope/radar assessments, as shown in
Figure 3, sensor geometries are used instead
of orbital elements. For both assessments, the
Figure 3. Telescope/Radar mode page.

continued on page 8

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 Orbital Debris Quarterly News

ORDEM Overview
continued from page 7

Table. Spacecraft/Telescope Mode data entry options input field validation rules from the publicly released
ORDEM software are applied. Additional options for
Add Adds a task of default values entering data in the assessment modes are described in
the Table.
Copy Copies selected tasks Two additional options are presented to the user
shown in both Figure 2 and 3 as on or off slider buttons.
Delete Deletes selected tasks The first option, “Generate all Plots?”, will generate
the standard plots for all tasks if checked (default is
Import Import tasks from .csv
unchecked). These plots (i.e., Average Flux versus
Size, Velocity Flux, 2-D Directional Flux) are saved as
Export Export task table to .csv
high-resolution PNG files for each task. Figure 4 is an
example of the 2-D directional flux plot (particle size
Add TLE Add task using a TLE dataset (Spacecraft-only)
> 10 um) for a 400 km × 400 km altitude, 51.6-degree
inclination orbit from the standalone ORDEM 3.2
Import TLEs Import tasks from a file of TLE sets (Spacecraft-only)
frontend, and Figure 5 is the same plot produced from
the ORDEM web application. The second option, “Create
Save Saves tasks to the browser session
Sigma Files?”, will generate the igloo flux uncertainty
Submit Submits all tasks to the cloud
files for all tasks if checked. However, if the user does
not need the uncertainty files in their assessment, then
leaving this option unchecked will speed up the ORDEM
run and decrease the file size of downloaded results. For
more information on the uncertainty files or different
types of ORDEM plots, see the latest version of the
ORDEM Software User Guide. Note that there are no
major changes between the ORDEM 3.1 and ORDEM
3.2 user guides. The plotting options and uncertainty
calculations remain the same in both documents.
The Job Status page, accessible from the top menu,
shows the progress of a submitted job. Once the user
enters a valid job-id in the text field and clicks the Search
button, the current progress for each task will display
on the page. The status table includes several columns.
The Folder Name column shows the unique folder names
for each task. The Description column lists the orbital
elements (spacecraft mode) or sensor targets (telescope/
radar mode) for each task. The Phase column lists the
Figure 4. 2-D Directional Flux, 400 km x 400 km altitude, 51.6-degree orbit regions that are assessed in each task, and the
inclination orbit, as produced by standalone ORDEM 3.2 frontend. overall phase will update as the ORDEM model continues
running. The Progress column shows the percent
completed for each phase. The Complete column shows
a download link for each completed task. Once all tasks
are complete, the user can download all tasks in a single
compressed file by clicking the “ALL tasks (.zip)” button
at the top of the status table. Figure 6 shows an example
of a completed job with results ready for download to a
user’s local machine.
The ORDEM web application also includes a Flux
Calculator for spacecraft assessments, as shown in
Figure 7. Once the user uploads the necessary SIZEFLUX_
SC.OUT file, an average flux is calculated based on
the debris size entered in the text field. The level of
uncertainty (“Sigma σ Factor”) can be adjusted up to
3.0-σ, and the Upper Bound and Lower Bound fields
Figure 5. 2-D Directional Flux, 400 km x 400 km altitude, 51.6-degree
inclination orbit, as produced by ORDEM web application. continued on page 9

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ORDEM Overview
continued from page 8

are re-calculated each time Sigma factor is

updated. The Decadal Points table shows
the average flux at several standard ORDEM
decadal size points. These table values are
updated every time the user selects a valid
Size Flux file.
For a better experience, the user should
consider a few points. First, the maximum
number of tasks per job is set to 150 to
ensure a stable cloud experience; however,
the goal is to remove this maximum limit
soon. Next, users should also note that
the cloud platform is designed to store the
results of a user’s job for a maximum of
30 days. Afterwards, the user will no longer
be able to access their results, though jobs
can be rerun if desired.
The ORDEM web application can be Figure 6. Job Status page, with a job ready for download.
accessed at https://ordem.appdat.jsc.
nasa.gov/. NASA users can access the
ORDEM web application with Launchpad
credentials. Non-NASA users can request
access by creating an account at https://
guest.nasa.gov/. The model is also available
as stand-alone, downloadable packages
from the NASA Software Catalog via https://
software.nasa.gov/software/MSC-25457-1.

Reference

Vavrin, A., Manis, A., et al., NASA

Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM
3.1 – Software User Guide, NASA/TP-2019-
220448, NASA Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX, USA, 2019. ♦

Figure 7. Flux calculator page.

The NASA Orbital Debris Photo Gallery has high resolution, computer-generated images of
objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Photos and graphics may be freely
downloaded from the NASA ODPO webpages, unless they include a third-party credit line.
In these cases, permission must be granted by the copyright owner.

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 Orbital Debris Quarterly News

WORKSHOP REPORT
The Spacecraft Anomalies and Failures (SCAF) Workshop, 29-30 March 2023
The annual two-day Spacecraft Anomalies and Failures (SCAF) a broad range of space-related areas to exchange concepts to
workshop was held 29-30 March 2023. The NASA Engineering improve space systems, such as anomaly and failure attribution
and Safety Center hosted the unclassified Day 1 session at tools and root-cause analysis practices.
the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the National Day 1 topics included discussions of the space environment,
Reconnaissance Office hosted the Day 2 classified sessions in especially recent solar activity. There were also presentations on
Chantilly, Virginia. There were over 225 registered participants lessons learned from several high-profile NASA missions, such as
and 9 invited presentations for Day 1 and over 140 registered the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, the James
participants and 10 invited presentations for Day 2. A diverse Webb Space Telescope, and crewed human vehicles. In addition,
group of U.S. and international aerospace community members presenters discussed the recurring theme of the importance
were in attendance, including representatives from academia, of collaboration, sharing of information, and communication
industry, civil, and military space organizations. Focused on between space entities to achieve maximum mission success and
space environment interactions and anomaly resolution lessons space safety. The agenda for this workshop can be found here:
learned, this workshop provided a chance for personnel from https://www.nasa.gov/nase/conferences/SCAF2023. ♦

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NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) website at: https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/quarterly-news/

UPCOMING MEETINGS
05-10 August 2023: 37th Small Satellite Conference, Logan, Utah, USA
Utah State University (USU) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will sponsor the
37th Annual USU/AIAA Conference on Small Satellites under the theme “Missions Small at Satellite Scale.” This conference will
explore future missions and delve into key technology drivers, operational constructs, and activities that inform and secure
success of small satellite missions at scale. The call for abstracts ended on 02 February 2023. Registration is now open for
attendees at https://smallsat.org/.

19-22 September 2023: 24th Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies
Conference (AMOS), Maui, Hawaii, USA
The technical program of the 24th Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference (AMOS) will focus on
subjects that are mission critical to space situational awareness. The technical sessions include papers and posters on orbital debris;
space situational/space domain awareness; adaptive optics and imaging; astrodynamics; non-resolved object characterization;
and related topics. The abstract submission deadline was 01 March 2023. Registration for this hybrid conference is now open for
in-person and virtual attendees. Additional information about the conference is available at https://amostech.com.

02-06 October 2023: 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Baku, Azerbaijan
The IAC will convene in 2023 with a theme of “Global Challenges and Opportunities: Give Space a Chance.” Of note, the 24th IAC
was last held in Baku 50 years ago in 1973. The IAC’s 21st International Academy of Astronautics Symposium on Space Debris
will cover debris measurements and characterization; modeling; risk analysis; hypervelocity impact and protection; mitigation;
post-mission disposal; space debris mitigation and removal; operations in the space debris environment; political and legal
aspects of mitigation and removal; orbit determination and propagation; and financial gains with space debris. This year, the
IAC will offer a venue for interactive presentations on space debris topics to allow more digital display capabilities for attendees.
The abstract submission deadline passed on 28 February 2023. Information about the conference and registration is available at
https://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2023/ and http://iac2023.org/. ♦

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 https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

The 2nd International Orbital Debris Conference (IOC) mission support, environment management, and other related
will convene December 4–7, 2023. The conference goal is to activities. The deadline for the submission of abstracts closed
highlight orbital debris research activities in the United States on April 6, 2023, after an extension. The final program for IOC II
and to foster collaborations with the international community. will be released in June 2023. More information is available at
The four-day, in-person conference will cover all aspects of https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/orbitaldebris2023/. ♦
micrometeoroid and orbital debris research, operations and

INTERNATIONAL SPACE MISSIONS

01 January 2023 – 31 March 2023
Apogee Alt. Incli. Addnl. Earth Other Cat.
Intl.*Designator Spacecraft Country/Organization Perigee Alt. (KM)
(KM) (DEG) SC Orbital R/B Debris
1998-067 ISS dispensed objects Various 412 419 51.6 3 0 1
2022-144E USA 340 US 35915 35948 3.0 0 0 0
2022-144F USA 341 US NO ELEMS AVAILABLE
2022-144G LINUSS1 US 36086 36177 2.6
2022-144H LINUSS2 US 36090 36175 2.6
2023-001B MENUT SPN 518 532 97.5 98 0 0
2023-002A SJ-23 PRC 35737 35745 0.8 0 2 0
2023-003A OBJECT A PRC 518 525 97.3 4 0 0
2023-004A ONEWEB-0532 UK 752 755 86.8 39 0 0
2023-005A APSTAR 6E PRC EN ROUTE TO GEO 0 2 0
2023-006A SHIYAN 22A (SY-22A) PRC 489 508 43.2 0 1 0
2023-006B SHIYAN 22B (SY-22B) PRC 500 516 43.2
2023-006C YAOGAN-37 PRC 506 519 43.2
2023-007A OBJECT A PRC 492 514 97.4 13 0 0
2023-008A USA 342 US 35343 35369 0.0 0 1 2
2023-008B LDPE-3A US 35971 35977 0.2
2023-009A NAVSTAR 82 (USA 343) US 20168 20197 55.1 0 0 0
2023-010A STARLINK-5277 US 567 572 70.0 50 0 4
2023-011A HAWK-6B US 543 548 40.5 0 2 0
2023-011C HAWK-6C US 543 548 40.5 548 40.5
2023-011D HAWK-6A US 544 547 40.5
2023-012A IGS R-7 JPN NO ELEMS AVAILABLE 0 1 0
2023-013A STARLINK-5492 US 558 560 43.0 55 0 4
2023-014A STARLINK-5077 US 357 361 70.0 48 0 5
2023-014BC ION SCV-009 IT 387 396 70.0
2023-014BH EBAD TEST MASS IT 271 276 70.0

continued on page 12

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SATELLITE BOX SCORE INTERNATIONAL SPACE MISSIONS
(as of 03 May 2023, cataloged by the
U.S. SPACE SURVEILLANCE NETWORK) 01 January 2023 – 31 March 2023
Spent Rocket Earth Other
Country/ Intl.* Country/ Perigee Apogee Incli. Addnl.
Spacecraft* Bodies & Other Total Designator
Spacecraft Organization Alt. (KM) Alt.(KM) (DEG) SC
Orbital Cat.
Organization Cataloged Debris R/B Debris
2023-015A STARLINK-5699 US 552 555 43.0 52 0 4
CHINA 609 4357 4966 2023-016A ELEKTRO-L 4 CIS 35778 35796 0.4 0 1 0

CIS 1567 5734 7301 2023-017A AMAZONAS 6 BRAZ EN ROUTE TO GEO 0 1 0

ESA 96 29 125 2023-018A PROGRESS CIS 412 419 51.6 0 1 0

MS-22
FRANCE 86 538 624
2023-019A EOS-7 IND 431 438 37.2 0 2 5
113 105 218 2023-019B AZAADISAT-2 IND 407 431 37.2
INDIA 2023-019C JANUS-1 US 373 401 37.2
JAPAN 204 108 312 2023-020A STARLINK-5749 US 558 560 43.0 54 0 4

673 1 674 2023-021A STARLINK-5484 US 567 572 70.0 50 0 4

UK
2023-022A INMARSAT 6-F2 IM EN ROUTE TO GEO 0 1 0
USA 6047 5115 11162
2023-023A CHINASAT-26 PRC 35771 35802 0.1 0 1 0
OTHER 1181 85 1266 2023-024A SOYUZ MS-23 CIS 412 419 51.6 0 1 0

Total 10576 16072 26648 2023-025A HORUS 1 EGYP 486 506 97.5 0 1 2
2023-026A STARLINK-30050 US 355 355 43.0 20 0 0
* active and defunct
DRAGON
2023-027A US 412 419 51.6 0 0 0
ENDEAVOUR 4

2023-028A STARLINK-5592 US 533 538 70.0 50 0 4

Visit the NASA 2023-029A ONEWEB-0530 UK 591 593 86.5 39 0 0

2023-030A OBJECT A PRC 891 892 99.0 0
Orbital Debris Program Office Website 2023-030B OBJECT B PRC 878 884 99.0
2023-030C OBJECT C PRC 759 883 99.0
www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov 2023-030D OBJECT D PRC 891 892 99.0
2023-031A LUCH (OLYMP) 2 CIS 35784 35789 0.1 0 1 1
2023-032A HORUS 2 EGYP 490 501 97.5 0 1 4

DRAGON
2023-033A US 260 409 51.6 0 0 1
CRS-27
Technical Editor
SHIYAN 19
Heather Cowardin, Ph.D. 2023-034A (SY-19) PRC 492 514 97.5 0 0 0

CAPELLA-10
2023-035B US 590 595 44.0
Managing Editor (WHITNEY) 0 2 0
CAPELLA-9
Ashley Johnson 2023-035C
(WHITNEY)
US 591 596 44.0

2023-036A GAOFEN 13 02 PRC 35777 35795 3.0 0 1 0

2023-037A STARLINK-5856 US 428 432 70.0 51 0 4
Correspondence can be sent to:
2023-038A SES 18 SES 35706 35784 0.1 0 1 0
Robert Margetta 2023-038B SES 19 SES 35784 35787 0.0
2023-039A OBJECT A PRC 499 522 97.4 0 1 0
[email protected] 2023-039B OBJECT B PRC 499 519 97.4
2023-039C OBJECT C PRC 499 516 97.4
or to: 2023-039D OBJECT D PRC 498 514 97.4
Shaneequa Vereen 2023-040A COSMOS 2567 CIS 494 507 97.6 0 1 0
[email protected] 2023-041B GLOBAL-19 US 443 452 42.0 0 2 1
2023-041C GLOBAL-5 US 440 451 42.0
2023-042A STARLINK-5905 US 419 421 43.0 55 0 4
2023-043A ONEWEB-0537 UK 552 575 87.1 35 1 0
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2023-044A OBJECT A ISRA NO ELEMS AVAILABLE 0 0 0
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 2023-044B OBJECT B ISRA NO ELEMS AVAILABLE
2101 NASA Parkway 2023-045A COSMOS 2568 CIS 320 337 96.5 0 1 0
Houston, TX 77058
2023-046A STARLINK-6102 US 433 435 43.0 55 0 4
2023-047A OBJECT A PRC 507 524 97.4 0 0 0
www.nasa.gov 2023-047B OBJECT B PRC 509 527 97.4
https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/ 2023-047C OBJECT C PRC 507 527 97.4
2023-047D OBJECT D PRC 514 529 97.4
Intl. = International; SC = Spacecraft; Alt. = Altitude; Incli. = Inclination; Addnl. = 2023-048A OBJECT A PRC 1082 1098 63.4 0 0 0
Additional; R/B = Rocket Bodies; Cat. = Cataloged 2023-048B OBJECT B PRC 913 1097 63.4
Notes: 1. Orbital elements are as of data cut-off date 31 March. 2. Additional
spacecraft on a single launch may have different orbital elements. 3. Additional
uncatalogued objects may be associated with a single launch.

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