ISRO launches world's first facility to monitor space debris

By Our Special Correspondent

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Monday inaugurated the world's first facility dedicated to monitoring space debris and protecting assets in space, which is expected to significantly help counter the growing threat to orbiting satellites and space stations.

ISRO's System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations & Management (IS4OM) was launched in Bengaluru on Monday, said Minister of State for Space Jitendra Singh, a facility that will better help in space traffic monitoring.“You understand how much traffic there is on the roads in Bangalore, how many satellites there are, how much debris there is that leads to collisions. We need a way to detect, deter, remove and capture them, which is the next point of concern," he said.

IS4OM is ISRO's comprehensive approach to ensure the security of space assets and sustain the use of outer space for national development.

In response to the ever-increasing space object population and the risk of collisions in space, it is responsible for observing and monitoring space objects and the space environment, processing observations for orbit determination, object characterization and cataloguing, space environment evolution analysis, risk assessment and mitigation, and data exchange and cooperation.

The system safeguards all Indian space assets by minimizing collision threats from space objects through specific orbital maneuvers and in compliance with international guidelines on post-mission disposal and end-of-life activities of satellites.