SSA: Orbital Debris, Space Weather, and Planetary Defense

SSA: Orbital Debris, Space Weather, and Planetary Defense provides a complete blueprint for understanding and managing space situational awareness (SSA). Actionable tools, models, and code are enhanced by policy discussions to provide a unified SSA framework addressing the technical, strategic, and legal realities shaping space security and planetary defense.

The fundamentals of SSA are presented and help define the history and core components, including space debris, orbiting objects, and space weather. Early chapters explore how SSA data is acquired and interpreted. Dive deep into the types, causes, and risks of orbital debris with practical classifications, data-driven models, and quick-reference summaries. Explore the mechanics of orbiting bodies with deep coverage of orbital parameters, satellite collisions, low-Earth orbit (LEO) decay, and atmospheric reentry. Gain hands-on tools for modeling reentry probabilities, analyzing radioactive risks, and understanding debris dynamics like the Kessler syndrome. Detailed technical sections provide formulas, graphs, and runnable code to simulate debris propagation, locate geostationary satellites, and interpret their optical behavior. The final section expands the scope, tackling electromagnetic interference, solar activity, and nuclear-generated space weather, offering both quick rules and in-depth models for forecasting their effects. Critical perspectives on planetary defense, international space law, and the growing role of SSA in global security support compliance efforts and ensure policy makers stay legally and strategically informed.

From engineering threats to legal and military realities, this book gives satellite and aerospace engineers, mission planners, space security professionals, and legal professionals in the space domain a complete toolkit for managing the full technical, operational, and strategic spectrum of SSA.

1 PROLOGUE

2 OVERVIEW OF SSA
2.1 Definitions
2.2 SSA Awareness
2.3 Three Components of SSA
2.4 Space Weather
2.5 Natural Space Debris
2.6 Orbiting Space Objects - Man-made Space Debris
2.7 Tracking Orbital Space Objects
2.8 Summary
2.9 Bookshelf

3 ORBITAL SPACE DEBRIS
3.1 Classification of Space Debris
3.2 Generating Space Debris
3.3 Natural Space Debris and Space Travel
3.4 Components of Orbital Space Debris
3.5 Debris Measurements and Models
3.6 Data Analysis and Availability
3.7 Problems with Orbital Space Debris
3.8 Collisional Cascade
3.9 Debris Visual Magnitude
3.10 Current Issues in Space Debris
3.11 Early Space Debris People
3.12 Space Debris Places and Organisations
3.13 Bookshelf

4 FAST FACTS ON SPACE DEBRIS

5 ORBITS - PARAMETERS AND SPECIFICATIONS
5.1 Low Earth Circular Orbits
5.2 Geosynchronous Satellites
5.3 Specifying Satellite Orbits in General
5.4 Orbital Ephemeris Programs
5.5 Orbit Determination
5.6 Solar Locational Algorithms
5.7 Bookshelf

6 COLLISIONS
6.1 Collisional Damage
6.2 Space Debris Penetration
6.3 Collisional Velocities
6.4 Hypervelocity Collision Analysis
6.5 Fragment Mass Distribution
6.6 Fragment Velocity Distribution
6.7 Orbital Parameter Changes
6.8 Gabbard Diagrams
6.9 CONASS and COLA - Protecting Current Assets
6.10 Bookshelf

7 ORBITAL DECAY IN LOW EARTH ORBIT
7.1 Introduction
7.2 An Isothermal Atmosphere
7.3 The Real Atmosphere
7.4 The CIRA Model
7.5 Models to 180 km
7.6 A Model from 180 to 500 km
7.7 A LEO Orbital Decay Model
7.8 Model Equations
7.9 Model Output
7.10 Lifetime Predictions
7.11 Practicalities
7.12 Bookshelf

8 SPACE DEBRIS REENTRY HAZARDS
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Satellite Lifetimes
8.3 Only Large Bodies Pose a Reentry Hazard
8.4 Reentry Statistics
8.5 Survival Statistics
8.6 Reality
8.7 Estimated Relative Risks
8.8 Debris reentry Survival
8.9 The reentry Process
8.10 Reentry Predictions - Agencies
8.11 Reentry Predictions - Models
8.12 Reentry Prediction Accuracy
8.13 Debris Reentry Hazard Criteria
8.14 Special Reentry Events
8.15 Planned Reentries
8.16 Suggested Debris Reentry Hazard Response
8.17 Post Impact Object Location
8.18 Satellite, Meteor or Reentry?
8.19 Bookshelf

9 A DEBRIS REENTRY MODEL
9.1 Space Debris Flight Through the Atmosphere
9.2 Classical Debris Ablation Theory
9.3 The Flight Equations
9.4 Atmospheric Density
9.5 Model Output
9.6 Exploring the Model
9.7 Theory and Observations
9.8 Orbital Space Debris Reentries
9.9 Reentry Latitudinal Probability Prediction
9.10 Bookshelf

10 SPACE DEBRIS DYNAMICS
10.1 Population Dynamics
10.2 Models
10.3 Bookshelf

11 GEOSTATIONARY AND GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBITS
11.1 History
11.2 The Geosynchronous Orbit
11.3 Geosat Classification and Operations
11.4 Imaging Geosats
11.5 The Brightness of Geosats
11.6 Geosat Communication
11.7 The Geosat Environment
11.8 The Asteroid Hazard to Geosats
11.9 Geosynchronous Orbital Debris
11.10 Bookshelf

12 ELECTROMAGNETIC AWARENESS IN SSA
12.1 Satellite Beacons
12.2 Communication Delay
12.3 Radio Frequencies for Space Communication
12.4 Space Communication Calculations
12.5 Spacecraft Reentry Communications Blackout
12.6 Solar Radio Interference to Geosat Signals
12.7 The Doppler Effect
12.8 Space Radar
12.9 Bookshelf

13 RULES OF THUMB FOR SPACE DEBRIS

14 SPACE WEATHER FOR SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Overview
14.3 The Earth
14.4 The Sun
14.5 The Quiet Sun
14.6 The Active Sun
14.7 The Solar System
14.8 The Galaxy
14.9 Summary of Natural Space Weather
14.10 Anthropogenic Space Weather
14.11 High Altitude Nuclear Explosions
14.12 HANE Preparation and Mitigation
14.13 Radiation Belt Remediation
14.14 Bookshelf

15 RULES OF THUMB FOR SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION

16 NEAR EARTH OBJECTS AND PLANETARY DEFENCE
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Early History
16.3 The First Near Earth Asteroid
16.4 Continuing Discovery
16.5 Asteroid Mining and Planetary Defence
16.6 Awareness and Acknowledgement
16.7 Surveillance
16.8 Mitigation
16.9 The International Asteroid Warning Network
16.10 Bookshelf

17 LEGAL ISSUES IN SSA
17.1 The Beginnings of Space Law
17.2 Issues in Space Law
17.3 Definition and Delineation
17.4 Jurisprudence and Jurisdiction
17.5 The Five United Nations Treaties
17.6 The Five United Nations Principles
17.7 Space Debris
17.8 Space Law Compliance
17.9 The Future of International Space Law
17.10 Multilateral Space Agreements
17.11 National Space Law
17.12 Current Issues
17.13 International Institute of Space Law
17.14 Bookshelf

18 SPACE SECURITY
18.1 Definitions
18.2 Opportunities
18.3 Threats
18.4 Legal Issues
18.5 Political Issues
18.6 Space Security - The Big Picture
18.7 Space Security Organisations
18.8 Counterspace Continuum
18.9 Space War
18.10 Bookshelf

19 EPILOGUE
19.1 Summary
19.2 Space Traffic Management
19.3 The Australian Connection
19.4 SSA update

ACRONYMS