How a University of Calgary satellite is helping the effort to dodge space debris

Andrew Jeffrey · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 11:26 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

As Earth's orbit is becoming much littered with detritus, Calgary-based scientists are moving with partners successful the U.S. to find a mode for satellites to dodge abstraction debris.

The University of Calgary is gathering information from CASSIOPE, a outer it operates, and moving with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to find ways to observe abstraction debris and predict wherever it's going, truthful satellites tin beryllium moved retired of its path.

Researchers are doing this by utilizing a radio receiver onboard CASSIOPE that tin observe plasma waves coming disconnected of objects successful Earth's ionosphere. The extremity is to physique an automated strategy that detects plasma waves, predicts wherever objects are moving, and acts arsenic an aboriginal informing strategy truthful satellites tin beryllium moved retired of the mode of oncoming objects.

With astir 8,000 satellites presently successful low-Earth orbit, Andrew Howarth, the U of C's manager of abstraction probe projects, said abstraction debris is simply a increasing problem. Even tiny objects successful orbit, specified arsenic erstwhile existing satellites interruption isolated into pieces, tin harm different satellites oregon abstraction stations.

"You efficaciously get to the constituent wherever abstraction tin beryllium inaccessible due to the fact that of each the pieces floating astir up there, moving astir astatine 27,000 km/h. It's rather a imaginable problem," Howarth said.

At specified precocious speeds, debris tin person an interaction equivalent to the vigor of a tiny manus grenade, punching holes successful captious systems connected satellites oregon abstraction stations.

While the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) tracks objects successful low-Earth orbit from the ground, it tin lone observe objects that are 10 centimetres oregon larger. The task betwixt the U of C and University of Alaska Fairbanks seeks to observe objects down to 1 centimetre successful size, due to the fact that determination are much of these tiny objects successful orbit.

"Occasionally, satellites bash tally into each other, oregon idiosyncratic uses immoderate benignant of trial limb to stroke a outer up, and present that 1 outer becomes 2,000 pieces of abstraction debris which are smaller. The smaller they get, the harder they are to observe with either a radar oregon optical instrument," University of Alaska Fairbanks probe prof Paul Bernhardt said.

After a impervious of conception successful 2021 found CASSIOPE's vigor receiver could observe vigor waves from objects arsenic they passed by wrong 10 kilometres, a task was funded by Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity to refine plasma-wave tracking.

The information of abstraction debris has already been seen successful the past, specified arsenic erstwhile a tiny entity enactment a five-millimetre hole done insulation covering the Canadarm connected the International Space Station. Howarth said researchers privation to guarantee that a bid of collisions don't make exponentially much objects floating successful space.

"The large interest is that 2 satellites volition collide and past that volition make hundreds oregon thousands of pieces of debris," Howarth said.

"The debris itself volition travel backmost down to Earth and pain up successful the atmosphere, but that takes months oregon years depending connected the altitude."

CASSIOPE, oregon the Cascade Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer, was primitively launched connected an 18-month ngo successful 2013 to cod information connected abstraction storms. But 12 years later, it's proven to inactive beryllium effective. Howarth said they expect it to stay operational, barring an electronics failure, until 2030 oregon 2031 erstwhile it re-enters Earth's atmosphere.

Howarth said his squad is besides moving with the University of Alaska Fairbanks to make a prototype spacecraft with adjacent much analyzable plasma-wave tracking than CASSIOPE. Currently, the U of C instrumentality is the lone outer successful debased orbit  that tin measurement this information owed to its vigor receiver and the elliptical orbit it travels on, which allows it to interact with different objects astatine assorted altitudes.