News

CSA Joins in Space Debris Group

By Doug Messier

Parabolic Arc

November 27, 2010

Filed under Canadian Space Agency, CSA, CSA astronauts, IADC, Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordinating Committee

CSA PRESS RELEASE
Nov. 24, 2010

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has been accepted as a full member of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). This committee is an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in space.

The primary purposes of the IADC are to exchange information on space debris research activities between member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research, to review the progress of ongoing cooperative activities, and to identify debris mitigation options. Being a member of this committee will provide the CSA with access to the latest research and activities related to space debris issues by the international members of the committee in order to mitigate and minimize potential threats to Canadian satellites and other space assets.Â It will also permit a strengthening of Canadian research activities into space debris related activities through enhanced cooperation with international partners.

The IADC is made up of a Steering Group and four specialized Working Groups covering Measurements (to gain information on man-made and natural objects in near-Earth space); Environment and Database (characterization and modeling of meteoroids and debris around the Earth, and the storage and access of the data by electronic means); Protection (related to the design and technology of spacecraft shielding against meteoroids and space debris and associated test methods) and Mitigation (the study of all measures to reduce or avoid the creation of space debris or reduce the hazards created by space debris).

Other IADC member agencies include the following: