Analysis of the Iridium 33-Cosmos 2251 Collision

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Analysis of the Iridium 33-Cosmos 2251 Collision

• T.S. Kelso

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Overview

• Introduction
• Anatomy of a Collision
• Tracking a Collision
• Impact on the Space Environment
• Conclusions

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Introduction

• What Collision of Iridium 33 Cosmos 2251
• When 2009 Feb 10 _at_ 1656 UTC
• Where 72.505 N, 97.873 E, 788.6 km altitude
• Northern Siberia
• Results (as of 2009 Aug 25)
• 419 pieces of Iridium 33 debris (16 decayed)
• 998 pieces of Cosmos 2251 debris (33 decayed)

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Anatomy of a Collision
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Kevin Fetter Video Iridium 33 28
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Tracking a Collision
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SOCRATES Min Range
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SOCRATES Rank (All)
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SOCRATES Rank (Top 200)
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Impact on the Space Environment
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Debris Characteristics
Satellite Number ofPieces Total Volume(m3) Dry Mass(kg) Inclination(deg)
Iridium 33 419 3.388 556 86
Cosmos 2251 998 7.841 900 74
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Lifetime Analysis Iridium 33
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Lifetime Analysis Cosmos 2251
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Lifetime Analysis Iridium 33
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Lifetime Analysis Cosmos 2251
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Conclusions

• Collision has significant long-term adverse
  effects
• International community must continue to work to
  mitigate debris generation
• Can mitigate risk by collaboratively sharing SSA
• SOCRATES-GEO 11 operators, 150 satellites
• SOCRATES-LEO 6 operators, 106 satellites
• Need best available SSA from SSN
• Need full examination of this event to help chart
  the way ahead

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Questions?