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Fragmentation consequence analysis for LEO and GEO orbits DEBRIS

Programme
Discovery
Programme Reference
12/603-02
Start Date
End Date
Country
Italy
Fragmentation consequence analysis for LEO and GEO orbits DEBRIS
Description

The simulations of the long term evolution of the space debris population, under realistic assumptions, show how the driving factor in the future environment will be mostly the breakup of large spacecraft and rocket bodies in LEO.
The present distribution of intact objects is a good proxy to quantify the catastrophic collision risk and consequences in the coming decades. For this reason, it is important to understand the effects of selected ``typical'' collisional fragmentations on the long term evolution of the debris population, as a function of the main driving parameters, with the goal of measuring the danger represented by ``typical'' classes of space objects

Executive summary