Reducing Spacecraft Risk to Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impact through Resilient Design.

Spacecraft are subject to impact by orbital debris particles during their operational and postoperational lifetime. The vast majority of mission risk posed by debris impacts is represented by millimetre-sized particles that are too small to be observed from ground-based sensors. Conjunction assessments and debris avoidance manoeuvres, although important for the sustainment of the space environment, address only a small fraction (<1%) of orbital debris mission risk. To improve the resilience of spacecraft platforms to small debris impacts we present a number of approaches, including: platform attitude/orbital orientation, the location of critical components, and dedicated shielding of the primary structure and/or critical components. Debris impact risk-informed design can provide improvements in physical resilience (i.e., >40%) for modest weight and operational cost (<1% total spacecraft mass). System-level approaches, i.e., fractionated or distributed architectures, are not considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]