Early Sentinel Maneuver Underscores Space Debris Problem

by | Apr 24, 2014

The Sentinel-1A satellite lifts off in April 2014.

Before it could begin imaging Earth, an unprecedented collision avoidance maneuver during launch and early orbit phase was needed to clear Sentinel-1A from the path of a defunct NASA satellite.

On April 9, 2014, the European Space Agency disclosed a serious problem early in the Sentinel-1A mission, which lifted off on April 3, 2014, on a mission to observe Earth. The spacecraft, which reportedly cost 280 million euros ($384 million) to launch, came close to a collision in orbit.

At the end of the first day after the launch (April 4): All deployments have been executed during the night and completed early in the morning at the beginning of the first ˜day shift,' read a blog post from the Sentinel-1A team on the European Space Agency's website.

Then it continues: There is a danger of a collision with a NASA satellite called ACRIMSAT, which has run out of fuel and can no longer be maneuvered. Not much information at the beginning, we are waiting for more information, but a collision avoidance maneuver may be needed.

Response: Are you kidding? A collision-avoidance maneuver during LEOP (launch and early orbit phase)? This has never been done before, this has not been simulated!

Worse, as controllers looked at the data, they realized there were two possible collision points. The maneuver took about 39 seconds and safely skirted Sentinel-1A out of danger.

Image courtesy of European Space Agency, S. Corvaja, 2014.

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