Earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded. With over 11 000 active satellites and many thousands more expected in the coming years as well as over 1.2 million pieces of space debris greater than 1 cm, the risk of in-orbit collisions has turned into a daily operational concern. ESA is investing in automation technologies that can help satellite operators respond more effectively to collision risks.
  • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    To ease the required manual effort, the vision for the CREAM system takes over a great number of related activities: evaluate potential conjunctions, generate manoeuvre plans and support with the decision-making process, coordination with other operators, as well as monitoring by potential future regulators.

    I didn’t realise we were still doing this manually. As the vast majority of satellite orbits are catalogued, this seems like a perfect candidate for automation.