THE idea of a graveyard orbit for dead satellites so as to limit space debris may not be very practical now, according to French space policy expert Isabelle Soubes Verger. She was in the city last weekend to participate in a conference at the VSSC, Thumba that was organised by the Alliance Francaise in collaboration with the Embassy of France in India.
``To shift a dying spacecraft to a graveyard orbit, we need lots of fuel,’’ said Isabelle, who is currently a senior researcher at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris. The transfer to graveyard orbit requires the same amount of fuel that a satellite needs for approximately three months of station-keeping.
``And no country is now willing to spend so much of money on a satellite-funeral. But in order to lower the probability of collisions with operational spacecraft and to prevent additional space debris, this setting apart of money for the funeral may become obligatory,’’ she added.
Recent research has also shown that satellites in a graveyard orbit may slowly break apart as micrometeorites hit them, and the smaller fragments might filter back down to lower altitudes. ``This would eventually endanger operational satellites. Another option would be a change in technology to explode the rockets in space, which is being worked out by different nations’’ Isabelle said.
Isabelle has done a thesis on the geography of outer space, especially on the occupation of earth orbits and the corresponding national space policies.
While Isabelle has published more than 80 articles on the strategic and political aspects of space activities, a global space policy may also be on the ‘not-feasible’ list, she said. ``Even though it may be perceived as a common entity, you should remember that nations have different definitions, applications and priorities as far as space is concerned. If for India, space is for development, for US and Russia it is for military reasons and for Europe it is telecommunication. The application levels may also be different,’’ Isabelle pointed out.
But we might soon have a guideline on space utilisation and reducing space debris, said Isabelle, who took to space science after graduating in Ancient Greek History. ``We also had to do geography as part of the course. And when the French Government invited applications from social science graduates to study space technology, my teacher Fernand Verges, an expert in remote-sensing, asked me to join,’’ she recollected.
Many years later, this teacher of hers became her husband too. And together they have published a book, the ‘Cambridge Encyclopedia of Space’.
Isabelle has delivered more than 60 invited talks in international conferences devoted to space policies and international security issues.
Thiruvananthapuram was just one of her many stops in India. Isabelle would now go to Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore for talks, before returning to Paris. ``It’s a very busy schedule, but I hope to see at least a little bit of your country,’’ she said.