On June 30 at 16:00 Central European Summer Time, a small fragment of a man-made
Each of the ESA satellites must perform inan average of two evasive maneuvers each year, and this does not include all the warnings they receive, which ultimately do not require evasive action.
Performing an evasive maneuver known as"collision avoidance maneuver" requires careful planning. Operators must ensure that they do not move the satellite into a new orbit that exposes it to the risk of other collisions, and must calculate how to return to the original orbit using as little fuel as possible and losing as little scientific data as possible.
ESA's Space Debris Administration analyzesdata from the US Space Surveillance Network and transmits a potential collision warning to ESA's flight control and flight dynamics teams, typically more than 24 hours before the debris makes its closest approach to the satellite.
But this time the warning came before eighthours, and the specific maneuver had to be completed in four hours. Alpha is now safe and has completed its ascent to a safer orbit with Charlie.
ESA creates new technology for trackingmore debris, is developing new computational tools to help scientists plan and execute a rapidly growing number of evasive maneuvers, and is working on guidelines that limit the amount of new debris.
Roy Swarm - the first constellation of satellitesEarth Observation ESA. His mission is to unravel one of the most mysterious aspects of our planet: the magnetic field. The project consists of three satellites, A, B and C, known as Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.
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