Space debris is a growing threat to operational satellites and satellite manufacturing organizations. Leaders in satellite manufacturing organizations lacking adequate knowledge on the space debris risks could be at a competitive disadvantage. The purpose of this explorative case study was to explore strategies leaders in satellite manufacturing organizations use to mitigate risks through the conceptual lens of stakeholder theory, contingency theory, and general system theory. The research questions addressed strategies to mitigate the debris threat from the perspectives of both ongoing concerns and long-term risk resolution. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 12 leaders, purposively selected, in satellite manufacturing organizations, and supplemented with documentation from the literature and archival records from NASA. Member checking was used to validate the transcribed data subsequently coded into 6 themes that included: meeting requirements; using analytical techniques; using shielding to protect satellites; implementing material and process innovation; developing satellite services; and generating end of mission requirements. Recommendations include maintaining and developing analytical competencies, funding research and development, and establishing standardization. Using strategies that facilitate risk mitigation and the preservation of the space environment, business leaders could benefit by developing strategic road maps that ensure continued access to space. Implications for social change include contributing to social stability, technology advancement, increased knowledge base, economic growth, higher education, and improved standard of living.

The mass of space debris in orbit around the Earth is growing and will continue to grow due to more frequent launches of satellites and space debris colliding with other space debris. This could lead to a situation in the future where a part, or all, of the orbit becomes so crowded with space debris that it becomes impossible to launch satellites to that region. In the end, it could even become impossible to access outer space at all due to the high risk of collision when travelling through the orbit. The first aim of this thesis is to explore the international regulation regarding space debris and evaluate if the legal regime can successfully be used as a tool to deal with the growing issue of orbital debris. The second aim is to discuss and recommend some possible improvements to the international regulation of space, to promote the sustainability of the Earth orbit as well as legal certainty. It is concluded that the current legal regime is unequipped to handle the issue of space debris. This is because the space treaties are vague and do not impose strict boundaries on the actions of states, and sufficient international customary law has not been developed. To address this issue, several improvements to the regulation of outer space are proposed with the aim of removing the legal uncertainty and providing a flexible framework to address the complex issues space debris creates.

Among the many possible applications of laser ablation one of the more recent taken is related to nanosatellites propulsion. The study of Laser Ablation Propulsion (LAP) requires research activity on different fields like high power pulsed lasers, laser ablation itself, because it is still a problem to relate the well known mechanisms to impulse generation, and finally materials that represent the fuel in LAP. This thesis presents a research activity on LAP from its very beginning, with the development of an experimental apparatus to measure laser generated impulse and the first results on metals and polymers that paves the way to the development of future LAP materials. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the actual situation of space economy and its recent fast evolution that led in the last years to the exploitation of space for many different applications, also by private companies. The so called New Space Economy is the background on which LAP develops, as an attractive propulsion technique for nano satellites, nowadays extremely diffused in all kind of space missions, and as a possible solution for the space debris problem. In this Chapter typical results obtained in LAP are also reviewed and compared with other solutions both for space debris and propulsion, in order to obtain a better image of its applicability range. Chapter 2 deals with laser ablation. Initially the parameters that play a role in laser ablation are discussed, in particular those related to the laser source like wavelength, pulse duration and repetition rate, to give an overview of the experimental conditions involved. Then general phenomenological observations on laser ablation are presented and related to the physical mechanisms involved, both in the case of metals and polymers, highlighting the main differences between these two classes of materials. The experimental part of this thesis starts in Chapter 3, with the description of the experimental apparatus developed to measure the laser generated mechanical impulses in the order of uN s. The different strategies to perform this kind of measurements are reviewed and compared to the one adopted in this work, based on a ballistic pendulum, and main advantages and problems are discussed. A technical description of the apparatus is given, focusing in particular on all the precautions that have been taken in order to let the pendulum operate in as ideal as possible conditions. The measurement procedure developed during this work is then described in detail, by discussing data analysis and showing some examples. Chapter 4 also deals with the development of the apparatus, in particular for what concerns the estimation of the laser energy density that reaches the target material (fluence), a fundamental parameter for LAP measurements. Some measurements on metals are also presented here in order to discuss some features related to the measurements of some common LAP parameters. Chapter 5 and 6 deal with LAP using polymers, and in particular with experiments devoted to the understanding of material properties that mainly affect LAP performances. The starting material chosen for these experiments is poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC), a benchmark in LAP experiments. Chapter 5 compares localized or uniform laser absorption by PVC, that can be obtained respectively by including carbon nanoparticles in the polymer matrix or by mixing PVC with an absorbing polymer (poly(styrene sulfonate)). The comparison is carried out from the optical an thermodynamical point of view, along with impulse generation. Specific ablation mechanisms are also discussed, showing that a localized absorption of laser radiation is more energetically efficient for impulse generation. Chapter 6 then continues the work on PVC containing nanoparticles, investigating the role of their size, morphology and concentration in laser ablation and in impulse generation. Both commercial and green produced carbon nanoparticles are used for these experiments showing that, at least in the considered size range, the only parameter that affects laser ablation is the number density of absorption centers in the polymer matrix, and not size or morphology. This points the direction to follow in the development of a polymeric material for LAP applications. Some open problems and future works are presented in Chapter 7. Effects on impulse generated by irradiating multiple times the same region are discussed, showing opposite behaviours between metals and polymers, for which still there is not a clear explanation. Then experimental issues and some results on specific impulse measurements are presented, and difficulties related to this measurement in metals briefly discussed. Finally laser ablation in a confined geometry is considered as an attracting technique to enhance impulse generation. And some results on PVC are shown. As a conclusion, main results obtained in this thesis are highlighted, and possible future research activities, developments and perspectives are discussed.

Since the start of the space race in the 1950‟s the outer space environment has significantly changed due to human expansion and the subsequent by-products known as outer space pollution/debris. As outer space rapidly evolved from a military high-ground into a commercialised asset exploited by private and state owned enterprises, the treaties negotiated in the 1960‟s and 1970‟s quickly became out-dated. As a result outer space, especially the orbits around the Earth are occupied by countless masses of non-functional manmade objects, some expected to remain for millions of years. This dissertation argues that the current national and international legal framework will be inadequate to address the problem of outer space pollution and that legal and political action will be necessary on a global scale. With the planned developments as set out in the National Space Policy, South Africa is set on becoming a leading provider of outer space services on the African continent and will, as a consequence, have a progressively bigger impact on the outer space environment. With a growing dependence on outer space technologies, developed and developing economies around the world cannot ignore the immense negative consequences that outer space debris could pose to their development. This study will thus, by examining the international and national legal framework regarding outer space pollution, provide legal recommendations pertaining to the principles and obligations that the South African legal framework will have to make provision for, in order to minimise the negative effect on the outer space environment. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Since the start of the space race in the 1950‟s the outer space environment has significantly changed due to human expansion and the subsequent by-products known as outer space pollution/debris. As outer space rapidly evolved from a military high-ground into a commercialised asset exploited by private and state owned enterprises, the treaties negotiated in the 1960‟s and 1970‟s quickly became out-dated. As a result outer space, especially the orbits around the Earth are occupied by countless masses of non-functional manmade objects, some expected to remain for millions of years. This dissertation argues that the current national and international legal framework will be inadequate to address the problem of outer space pollution and that legal and political action will be necessary on a global scale. With the planned developments as set out in the National Space Policy, South Africa is set on becoming a leading provider of outer space services on the African continent and will, as a consequence, have a progressively bigger impact on the outer space environment. With a growing dependence on outer space technologies, developed and developing economies around the world cannot ignore the immense negative consequences that outer space debris could pose to their development. This study will thus, by examining the international and national legal framework regarding outer space pollution, provide legal recommendations pertaining to the principles and obligations that the South African legal framework will have to make provision for, in order to minimise the negative effect on the outer space environment. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Remorquer des satellites peut être utiles pour de nombreuses raisons : les désorbiter ou ré-orbiter, nécessaire dans le cas des satellites en fin de vie, ou pour finaliser les lancements par exemple. Dans ce cas, cette manœuvre augmenterait la capacité des étages supérieurs de lanceurs. Plusieurs moyens peuvent être envisagés pour modifier l’orbite d’un satellite cible grâce à un autre satellite. Parmi eux, les concepts sans contact sont intéressants, car ils fournissent un moyen d’éviter le besoin d’interfaces normalisées. Ils permettent ausside ne pas réaliser d’amarrages non coopératifs, qui représentent une grande difficulté. Enfin, ils contribuent à réduire le risque de créer de nouveaux débris par collision. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons d’utiliser les forces magnétiques pour remorquer le satellite cible. En effet, de nombreux satellites, en particulier en orbite terrestre basse, sont équipés de magnéto-coupleur, utilisés pour le contrôle d’attitude. Un satellite chasseur équipé d’un dipôle magnétique puissant pourrait donc générer des forces sur la cible. Cependant, la création d’une force entre deux dipôles magnétiques génère automatiquement des couples sur les deux dipôles. Par conséquent, la viabilité d’un remorqueur magnétique spatial n’est a priori pas assurée, étant donné qu’appliquer en permanence des couples sur les deux satellites ne serait pas acceptable. / Satellite tugging can be undertaken for various reasons: de-orbiting or reorbiting,necessary in the case of satellites at the end-of-life, or for instance to finalise launches,in which case this manoeuvre would increase the capacity of launchers’ upper stages. Severalmeans can be considered to modify the orbit of a target satellite by tugging it with anothersatellite. Contact-less concepts are interesting, as they provide a way to avoid standardisedinterfaces and hazardous docking phases. They also help to prevent the creation of new debrisby reducing the risk of collision. In this thesis, we suggest using magnetic forces to tug the target. Indeed many satellites, especially in Low Earth Orbit, are equipped with Magnetic Torque Bars used for attitudecontrol. A chaser satellite equipped with a powerful magnetic dipole could hence generateforces on the target. However, creating a force between two magnetic dipoles automaticallycreates torque on both of them. Therefore, the feasibility of magnetic tugging is a priori notassured, considering that applying constant torques on both satellites would not be acceptable.

Orientador: Tadashi Yokoyama / Banca: Rodolpho Vilhena de Moraes / Banca: Nelson Callegari Junior / Resumo: A estabilidade dos membros das constelações Galileo e GPS é investigada. Devido à ressonância 2:1 entre w e W, ocorre um aumento significativo da excentricidade. Este aumento causa riscos de colisão entre os satélites descartáveis e os ativos. Como a ressonância não depende do semi-eixo do satélite, estratégias usuais de aumentar a altitude não resolvem o problema. Então, condições iniciais especiais são achadas tais que os satélites descartáveis permanecem estáveis, com baixa excentricidade por pelo menos 250 anos. Outra estratégia de atacar o problema é mover o objeto descartável para uma órbita particular, acelerando o crescimento da excentricidade. Este estudo é brevemente apresentado. A dinâmica de satélites heliossíncronos é também estudada. Devido o arrasto atmosférico, a altitude do satélite sempre decai e portanto ele cruza o valor ressonante do semi-eixo. Sempre que isso ocorre, um salto na inclinação é observado e em alguns casos, há alguns cruzamentos tais que a inclinação permanece aprisionada (durante algum tempo) no centro de libração. Este evento é importante, pois isso pode ser explorado para realizar manobras de baixo custo para controlar o satélite numa determinada inclinação. Através do sistema exato, investigamos estas quasecapturas e seu aproveitamento em manobras de manutenção de inclinação. / Abstract: The stability of the disposed members of the Galileo and GPS constellations is investigated. Due to the 2:1 resonance between w and W, a significant increase of the eccentricity occurs. These increase cause risk of collisions between the operational and disposed satellites. As the resonance does not depend on the semi-major axis of the satellite, usual strategies of raising the altitude do not solve the problem. Therefore, special initial conditions are found such that the disposed satellites remain stable with small eccentricity, for at least 250 years. Another strategy to attack the problem is to move the disposed object to a particular orbit, accelerating the growth of the eccentricity. This study is briefly presented. The dynamics of the sun-synchronous satellite is also studied. Due to the atmospheric drag, the altitude of the satellite always decays and therefore it crosses the resonant value of the semi-major axis. Whenever this happens, a jump in the inclination is observed and in some cases, there are some crossing such that the inclination remains locked (during some time) in the center of the libration. This event is interesting since it can be exploited to perform inexpensive maneuvers to control the satellite at desired inclination. / Mestre

Afin de déterminer l’état dans lequel les fragments arrivent au sol et leurs points d’impact, une compréhension fine des phénomènes physiques intervenant lors de la rentrée atmosphérique des débris spatiaux, ainsi qu’un effort important de modélisation sont nécessaires. Il s’agit en particulier d’analyser et de modéliser des phénomènes physiques peu pris en compte jusqu’à présent par les approches existantes et connues. Durant cette thèse une modélisation des interactions entre fragments en régime continu hypersonique et supersonique pour des écoulements de gaz parfait et de gaz réel a été proposée. Ceci a permis de montrer l’influence significative de ce phénomène sur la dynamique et la survie d’une sphère située dans la couche de choc générée par un premier fragment. D’autre part, un modèle pour l’estimation des coefficients aérodynamiques de force et de moment ainsi que le coefficient de flux de chaleur en régime hypersonique du moléculaire libre au continu est proposé. En complément des régimes hypersonique et supersonique, un modèle préliminaire pour le calcul des coefficients aérodynamiques en régime transsonique a été développé. Un modèle de conduction thermique adapté à la rentrée des débris spatiaux a été développé. Les influences du modèle de conduction, de l’épaisseur de paroi et de la prise en compte de la dépendance en température de la conductivité thermique et de la capacité calorifique sur la distribution de température dans la paroi ont été montrées. D’autre part, une étude expérimentale sur l’oxydation de l’alliage de titane TA6V a été menée au laboratoire PROMES-CNRS d’Odeillo sous plasma d’air. Les premiers résultats confirment la nécessité de tenir compte de l’oxydation de la paroi en particulier dans un environnement à haute température où l’oxygène est dissocié comme c’est le cas pour les rentrées atmosphériques terrestres de débris spatiaux. Par ailleurs, un modèle de dégradation thermique de la paroi par fusion (ablation) a été mis en place. Ces modèles ont été implantés dans le code MUSIC/FAST de l’ONERA. Celui-ci, initialement conçu pour l’analyse pré-mission de la rentrée de véhicules ou de capsules, a été évalué, consolidé et amélioré pour son application à la rentrée des débris spatiaux.Les coefficients aérodynamiques et aérothermodynamiques calculés par le code ont été confrontés aux données issues de la littérature pour différentes géométries. Enfin, la rentrée atmosphérique d’un réservoir sphérique a été simulée permettant d’évaluer l’influence de différents paramètres (pente, propriétés des matériaux, propriétés de la paroi interne du réservoir, épaisseur de la paroi) sur la trajectoire du fragment et son état lors de son impact au sol. / In order to determine the conditions in which fragments reach the Earth as well as their impact point locations,a deep comprehension of the physical phenomena occurring during the atmospheric re-entry of space debris is necessary, as well as an important effort in the development of models. Especially, it is important to analyse and develop models for the physical phenomena neglected in the existing and known approaches. During this thesis, some effort was put into the development of a fragment interaction model in continuum hypersonic and supersonic regime, in perfect and real gas at equilibrium. It was critical to understand the significant influenceof this phenomenon on the dynamics and survival of a sphere situated in the shock wave generated by a primary fragment. On the other hand, a model allowing the aerodynamic force and moment coefficients estimation anda model to evaluate the heat flux coefficient in hypersonic regime from free-molecular to continuum flow have been proposed. Subsequently, a first model to compute the aerodynamic coefficients in transonic regime has beendeveloped. A thermal conduction model adapted to the study of atmospheric re-entry of space debris has been developed. The significant influence of the conduction model, the wall thickness and the thermal dependence of material properties such as thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity on the wall thermal distribution have been shown. A first wall ablation model by melting has been set up. On the other hand, an experimental study on the oxidation of the TA6V titanium alloy has been conducted at PROMES-CNRS laboratory, Odeillo,in plasma air environment. The results confirm the necessity to take into account the wall oxidation, especially in a high temperature environment where oxygen is dissociated, as encountered in Earth atmospheric re-entry of space debris. A model for the thermal degradation of the wall by melting (ablation) has been developed. These models have been implemented in the ONERA code named MUSIC/FAST. This one, initially designed for spacecraftre-entry pre-mission analysis, has been evaluated, consolidated and improved for space debris atmosphericre-entry applications. For validation purpose, the aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics coefficients computed by the code have been compared to the ones found in literature, for various geometries. Finally, the atmosphericre-entry of a spherical tank has been simulated allowing the evaluation of the influence of different parameters(angle of climb, material properties, internal wall properties and wall thickness) on the fragment trajectory andits state when it reaches the ground.

A deorbiting drag device is being designed and built by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies/Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS/SFL) to be demonstrated on the Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 7 (CanX-7) satellite. CanX-7 will address the growing issue of space debris by designing a drag sail device that will be demonstrated for cubesat-sized satellites. Mission analysis done to ensure the drag device functions properly and deorbits within the required lifetime is performed while varying different properties such as drag coefficient, effective drag area, and solar cycle variations. The design evolution of the device is documented and the chosen design, along with several stages of prototyping, is described. The individual components that make up the device are described as are preliminary numerical analyzes. Finally, the test plan required for the device is described with several deployment experiments and risk reduction tests documented.

A deorbiting drag device is being designed and built by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies/Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS/SFL) to be demonstrated on the Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment 7 (CanX-7) satellite. CanX-7 will address the growing issue of space debris by designing a drag sail device that will be demonstrated for cubesat-sized satellites. Mission analysis done to ensure the drag device functions properly and deorbits within the required lifetime is performed while varying different properties such as drag coefficient, effective drag area, and solar cycle variations. The design evolution of the device is documented and the chosen design, along with several stages of prototyping, is described. The individual components that make up the device are described as are preliminary numerical analyzes. Finally, the test plan required for the device is described with several deployment experiments and risk reduction tests documented.