ARIANE DEBRIS MITIGATION MEASURES - PAST AND FUTURE

Numerous explosions of spent upper stages are still registered every y ear. Based on the experience of the Ariane 4 H10, ESA and CNES conside r that this space debris generation process can be avoided through a s ystematic passivation at the end of nominal mission. This solution imp oses a significant development effort : specific hardware is required, but also associated simulations, flight predictions and flight data p rocessing. The solution adopted on Ariane 4 following the V16 breakup is presented first; the efficiency of these measures is obvious since no other explosions have ever been noted since. The technical choices made on Ariane 5 are then described, together with the associated diff iculties and development challenges. ESA and CNES feel that other spac e agencies should include such measures in the top level requirements for current and future orbital stages, this being the most realistic a nd pragmatic space debris mitigation method. (C) 1997 International As tronautical Federation. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.