CHANTILLY, Va. - Orion Space Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcfield, announced a follow-on subcontract from Advanced Space to support Phase 2 of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Space Debris Identification and Tracking program.
The two-year award builds on work completed during Phase 1 of the SINTRA program, in which the team conducted research into ionospheric interactions caused by orbital debris. Phase 2 will focus on refining and operationalizing those methods to detect and characterize previously untracked objects by analyzing measurements of the plasma wave environment.
"Orion has a long-standing legacy of advancing groundbreaking space science," said Gregg Burgess, president and general manager of Orion Space Solutions. "Our team's expertise in space domain awareness, plasma physics, and ionospheric modeling makes us uniquely positioned to deliver this cutting-edge solution for IARPA to further the state of the art in space traffic coordination and orbital debris mitigation."
Related: Orion Space Solutions to support NOAA's digital twin program for earth observation
Agency aims
The IARPA is a research organization within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that sponsors high-risk, high-reward research to address challenging technical problems relevant to the U.S. intelligence community, including space domain awareness and emerging threats in the space environment.
The IARPA SINTRA program seeks to address the challenge of detecting and tracking orbital debris objects smaller than 10 centimeters, which remain outside the persistent tracking capabilities of current space surveillance systems. During Phase 1, Orion conducted a large-scale statistical study examining the relationship between space objects and ionospheric perturbations. Phase 2 will develop new tools to estimate the characteristics of untracked debris objects based on observed plasma wave activity.
"This contract award highlights Arcfield's commitment to pushing the boundaries of space exploration," said Kevin Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of Arcfield. "Through Orion, we're developing innovative capabilities that not only advance scientific understanding but deliver practical solutions as our government mission partners seek complete space domain awareness."
Related: European Space Agency commissions world’s first space debris removal
The SINTRA program was first awarded in July 2023 to investigate how orbital debris interacts with the space environment and how those interactions can be used to detect, track, and characterize debris that cannot be monitored using conventional methods. The Advanced Space-led team is one of a limited number of performers selected to continue into Phase 2.
Debris danger
According to IARPA, orbital debris poses a growing risk to space missions, including those supporting the intelligence community. In low Earth orbit, debris can travel at average impact velocities of about 22,500 miles per hour, allowing even millimeter-scale objects to cause significant damage. While debris larger than 10 centimeters can generally be tracked, smaller objects remain largely unmonitored. IARPA estimates that more than 100 million debris objects larger than 1 millimeter are orbiting Earth, with fewer than 1 percent of potentially mission-ending objects currently tracked.
The agency said improved detection and characterization of small, lethal debris would support safer operations for government and commercial space assets worldwide.
