Electromagnetic Vector Sensor Satellite for Detection of Harmful Space Debris

The number of satellites launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) is increasing at an exponential rate. Currently, there are about 27,000 known space objects and over 100 million of unknown pieces of space debris. Collision avoidance requires precise knowledge of the positions for all space objects. New techniques are being developed to detect the small, < 10 cm, objects by the plasma waves they generate in space. The bases for these techniques are that all space objects in orbit around the Earth (1) pass through a magnetized plasma, (2) become electrically charged, and thus (3) produce detectable plasma waves. Field aligned irregularities (FAIs) in the path of orbiting space objects are monitored by the HF radar backscatter and by in situ electron density probes. Space debris and satellites moving through these irregularities and can excite plasma emissions such as whistler, compressional Alfven, or lower hybrid waves. Orbital kinetic energy is the source of lower hybrid waves which is converted into an electromagnetic plasma oscillation when a charged space object encounters a field aligned irregularity (FAI). Such compressional Alfven wavs and whistlers propagate undamped at between 400 and 9000 km/s from the source regions and can be detected at ranges up to 50 km.