SRC-228

IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, IADC-02-01 Revision 2, March 2020, 14 pp.

Commissioned by IADC. Who paid for a study is recorded because it bears on how its conclusions should be read, not because it makes them wrong.

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• CLM-0750 The 2020 edition of the international debris guidelines says a retiring geostationary satellite should climb at least 235 km above its working orbit, plus an extra allowance that depends on how large and light it is, and the 235 km is made of 200 km of protected zone plus 35 km for the way gravity nudges the orbit back down.
• CLM-0751 Working the international disposal formula through by hand shows that for a very large and very light satellite the extra height it must climb at retirement is dominated not by the fixed 235 km allowance but by the push of sunlight on it, and that for anything lighter than about 8.5 kilograms per square metre facing the sun that sunlight term is the larger of the two.
• CLM-0756 The international space debris guidelines are advice, not law: ESA's own report says they are a starting point for national rules and technical standards, and that it is up to each country, operator and manufacturer whether and how to apply them.

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