Why is there so much interest in the theme of space surveillance? It can be tempting to think that this is just an overblown group of self-interested parties trying to drum up funding for obscure research efforts. The reality couldn’t be more different. Over the last five years, real concern has been growing about the way the near space environment is becoming polluted by our past activities. The collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 on Feb. 10, 2009, highlighted these concerns. How could an operational spacecraft be destroyed by hitting a piece of junk? The millions of dollars of investment destroyed in a millisecond was one thing, but the secondary effect was the increased concentration of debris. 

So what are we doing about this? It's not that we haven’t had any space surveillance activities before. The first space surveillance system (Minitrack) was in place before the launch of Sputnik in 1959. During the Cold War, capabilities to detect and track orbiting satellites increased enormously in both the U.S. and Russia. Of course, the idea for these systems wasn’t to detect debris, but to observe what the other side was doing and ensure compliance with the various non-proliferation treaties in place (notably the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, also known as the Outer Space Treaty).

As a result, both the U.S. and Russia have highly sophisticated surveillance and tracking systems. The U.S. system (conducted by U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space) has a declared detection resolution of around 10 centimeters diameter in low Earth orbit (LEO). The ability to accurately track objects at higher orbits varies. The Russian space situational awareness (SSA) system is a combination of both military and civilian systems.. Other counties, such as France, China and Japan, have also developed orbital surveillance capabilities.

So, why all this activity? The debris population has been growing very quickly over the last five years, due to collisions and a brief period of anti-satellite missile testing. The population of objects larger than 10 cm (the size that we can currently detect) in 1990 was around 7,500. This grew to 10,000 by 2000 and then there was a huge jump to 16,000 by 2010. No wonder agencies worldwide are really starting to worry about this. The impact on satellite operations is now being felt on a daily basis. Satellites that orbit in the most populated regions have to perform costly avoidance maneuvers  to reduce the chances of a fatal collision. This uses irreplaceable fuel and reduces the lifetime of these resources, which nobody likes.

Where is Europe in all of this? It has been recognised at many levels, governmental (SSA centers have been developed in France and Germany, and questions were raised in the U.K. Parliament to highlight the need for a strong SSA capability) as well as institutional (the European Council, European Commission and Western European Union). All agree that something should be done to ensure that Europe has the ability to protect its satellites. Currently the sensors and systems required to do this are not in place and cannot ensure compliance with the international treaties that European countries have signed. 

The member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) took the first step in 2008 to approve the first pan-European SSA development program. The Space Situational Awareness Preparatory Programme began in earnest in 2009. It is developing so-called precursor services to serve as a demonstration test-bed for novel solutions and the federation of existing European systems in the areas of sensor design, data processing and service provision for space surveillance, space weather and the detection of near-Earth objects. In parallel, the program is also developing a detailed architectural design to provide an accurate cost estimate for a future, fully developed system. 

The funds to build the first phase of this system will be requested toward the end of 2012. Of course, in the current financial climate, available funds are scarce and attention will be given to providing the absolutely best return for the investment made. Given the amount of interest across Europe for this kind of system, along with the clear and growing threat presented by space debris and the current lack of European sensors, now is the time for Europe to step forward and help contribute to a safer space and safer world.

About the guest blogger: Emmet Fletcher is Head of the European Space Agency's SSA-SST Segment.  To learn more about the ESA Space Situational Awareness team, visit their  webpage. 

Photo credit: ESA - J. Mai.