Recent simulations of the future development of the space debris environment revealed that the number of hypervelocity impacts on satellite surfaces will increase. Impacts of space debris particles and micrometeoroids can damage satellites. This can cause operational anomalies or even the loss of a satellite mission. The loss of a satellite reduces its expected operational lifetime. Thus, financial investments cannot be amortized completely. In this paper the cost of hypervelocity impacts on satellites is estimated. A risk analysis is performed by combining the probability of a penetration with the failure probability of the satellite. The goal of this work is to combine the risk of particle impacts with a cost analysis. The probability of a satellite failure is estimated by combining the probability of a penetration with a vulnerability model. The failure probability is weighted with the mission cost of a satellite. This results in a probability of loss of amortization. The amortization loss is used as estimation for the damage cost due to hypervelocity impacts. In this way it is possible to associate impacts with cost. The cost model is used to analyze selected reference missions. This analysis considers the influence of shielding measures on the mission cost. An important result is the estimation of the failure probability for different satellite wall designs including shielding. Shielding requires a modification of the satellite wall. This can result in an increasing complexity of the wall or an increasing mass. As a consequence, the hardware cost increase. To identify suitable shielding measures and to justify the additional financial investments, it is necessary to investigate the economic feasibility of such measures and to demonstrate their benefit.

Within a French/German research project the suitability of a new class of materials, so-called aluminium foam sandwiches (AFS), was tested for space applications. While classical sandwich materials require particular, cost and time intensive processing techniques, AFS are suitable for mass production technologies as they are known from car industry and the like. Thus, it is expected that such materials could essentially contribute to cost reduction in space. In order to test the principal applicability and to gain some first experience in how the manufacture of AFS space components could work, a cone 3936 as used in Ariane 5 was chosen as demonstrator. In the forefront, the material had been intensively tested considering mechanical and thermal properties. By means of FEM the results of these experiments were used to simulate the behaviour under load and to optimise the design accordingly. Using AFS suitable production methods, the cone was built and tested simulating the loads during launch. The test results were compared to the predictions made by FEM and showed good agreement.

Space debris activities within Europe are predominantly performed by ESA, and by the national space agencies ASI (Italy), BSNC (UK), CNES (France), and DLR (Germany), with the support of European industry, research institutes, and academia. Since the year 2000 such activities are coordinated by a Space Debris Working Group, within a European Network of Centres, with representatives of the aforementioned agencies. The scope of debris activities covers research in the areas of ground-based and in-situ measurements, the development of debris and meteoroid environment models which are consistent with measurement data, the assessment of debris related risks on orbit and during re-entry, the development of effective shielding technologies, the improvement of techniques for hyper-velocity impact tests and computer simulations, the analysis of long-term effects of different debris mitigation measures, the implementation of such concepts in launcher and satellite designs, and the concerted work towards international agreements to arrive at common debris mitigation standards. The European partners ESA, ASI, BNSC, CNES, and DLR support the development of such international standards at the level of the UNCOPUOS Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee, and within the ISO Orbital Debris Coordination Working Group (TC20/SC14). These standardization efforts are supported by a European Code of Conduct on Space Debris Mitigation, and by the combined technical expertise provided by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC).

The two reentry analysis tools, NASA ORSAT (Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool) and ESA SCARAB (Spacecraft Atmospheric Reentry and Aerothermal Breakup), are standard codes for the reentry survivability assessment of decaying satellites. These programs determine if and when an object/fragment demises during reentry. The final debris casualty area caused by the surviving objects/fragments is calculated, which is used to determine the reentry risk posed to the Earth’s population. A set of test cases for both tools has been defined which comprises random tumbling or spinning simple geometric shapes (spheres, boxes, and cylinders), consisting of three materials (aluminum, titanium, and graphite epoxy composite). Geometric dimensions, wall thickness, and mass are varied, with the initial orbit conditions kept constant for each case. Both tools use the U.S. Standard 1976 atmosphere model and the same physical material properties. This paper presents the main results of both tools and summarizes the discovered differences.

All space faring nations and their space agencies are aware of the problems of space debris and the corresponding risks. They increase their effort in international committees (e.g., UNCOPUOS, IADC - Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee) to reach an agreement on worldwide regulations (guidelines, handbooks, standards) for the mitigation of space debris. Due to the complexity of the subject it seems to be necessary to advise and support spacecraft designers, manufacturers, suppliers, operators, etc. to handle it, ideally in the form of a commercially useful `End-to-End Service'. Based on this finding the project `Space Debris End-to-End Service' was started in Germany in September 2001. `End-to-End Service' means the consideration of space debris avoidance or mitigation aspects from the beginning of the design, during the operational phase of a spacecraft up to the end of the mission, and the following phase of the initiation of the disposal measures. This Service will assist the user how to analyze the risks of space debris, will provide concepts for debris impact protection measures and will give an estimate for the costs of space debris mitigation measures, supported by examples of cost to benefit analyses. This paper gives an overview on the `Space Debris End-to-End Service' project and describes the current status.

To tackle the space debris problem, members from ASI, BNSC, CNES, DLR and ESA set up a European Debris Mitigation Standard Working Group (EDMSWG). They propose a draft standard as one of the series of ECSS Standards intended to be applied for the management, engineering and product assurance in space projects and applications. The requirements in the draft standard are defined in terms of what must be accomplished, rather than in terms of how to organise and perform the necessary work. This allows existing organisational structures and methods within agencies and industry to be applied where they are effective, and for such structures and methods to evolve as necessary, without the need for rewriting the standards. The draft standard, which comprises management requirements, design requirements and operational requirements, is currently in the process of being introduced as a standard into ECSS.

Space traffic management should ideally coordinate the launch and deployment, orbit maintenance and operation, and post-mission disposal of space systems, such that the terrestrial space environment is maintained in a state which allows operations with acceptable risk levels also in the long term. While a coordinated space traffic management is not yet accomplished at an international level, national space agencies start preparing the ground for such an endeavor. In Europe ESA, ASI, BNSC, CNES, and DLR are the main driving forces in this area. In their Space Debris Network of Centers Coordination Group, several of the relevant activities for space traffic management are coordinated and advanced to high technical standards, based on available expertise among European partners. As part of a future space traffic management, Europe strives to improve their capabilities in radar and optical space surveillance, in collision avoidance during launcher ascent and spacecraft operation, in re-entry risk management, in safe end-of-life disposition of space systems, and in modeling the space object environment and assessing measures to maintain its stability. The status of such activities will be described, and an outlook to future plans will be given. As another necessary step towards an international space traffic management, a recently tabled European Space Debris Mitigation Standard will be discussed and compared against other standards of major space faring nations. Finally, Europe's role in international space debris coordination activities will be outlined.

Resulting from the present effort on international regulations and the compilation of guidelines to handle the space debris problem in the future, the need consists to advise spacecraft manufacturer, suppliers and operators ideally in the form of a commercially useful End to End Service. The competence of German institutions incl. research institutes and companies in the field of the space debris research and risk analyses is widely recognized and very well suitable to deal with all the corresponding aspects in Germany but also Europe-wide. It is the intention of DLR to concentrate and link all expertises and competences, available in Germany, in one coherent project. The space industry should contribute to risk analyses, reviews of guidelines and to proposals for space debris minimising design and operations of spacecrafts. Preliminary proposals by several institutes and companies have been prepared and have been compiled to a consolidated work plan for a project named 'Space Debris End to End Service'. 'End to End' means the consideration of space debris mitigation aspects from begin of the design over the operational phase of a spacecraft up to the end of the mission and the following phase of the initiation of space debris avoidance measures (e.g. passivation, de- or re-orbiting). The effectiveness of such an End to End Service shall be demonstrated on a satellite project. The work packages of the project shall cover in principle the following activities: Conception of an End to End Service Identification of national needs, the state of knowledge and information Spacecraft requirements and mitigation measures Re-entry analyses Application on a pilot project, incl. system review, meteoroid and space debris modelling, hazard analyses, recommendations of measures and a cost to benefit analysis. This paper reports about the work plan and the status of the project.