Indian Space Situational Assessment Report for 2023

Why is it in the news?

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) releases Indian Space Situational Assessment Report (ISSAR) for 2023.
Compiled by ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM), indicating steady growth in space object population.

Key highlights

Global Scenario: 3143 objects placed in orbit in 2023 compared to 2533 in 2022, with five major on-orbit break-up events adding to space debris.
Indian Scenario: 127 Indian satellites sent into space until December 31, 2023. All seven ISRO launches in 2023, including Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1, were successful.
Risk to Space Assets: Increasing trend in Collision Avoidance Manoeuvres (CAMs) to protect operational spacecraft from close approaches by other space objects. India had to conduct 23 CAMs in 2023 to safeguard its space assets.
Concerns with Space Object Population Growth:

1) Risks to spacecraft operations and threat to astronauts’ lives due to space debris.

2) Kessler syndrome, where space junk creates more debris, is a growing concern.

Risk Mitigation Steps by India

· Space Object Proximity Analysis (SOPA) for Satellites predicts close approaches using IS4OM/ISTRAC.

· Collision Avoidance Analysis (COLA) for Launch Vehicles.

· ISRO’s Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

· Controlled re-entry of decommissioned satellites/spacecraft.

· International cooperation through the Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) with 13 space agencies.

AMIGOS IAS