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and not one that affects me. Those who operate MEO orbit systems might say much the same.
    The increasing build up over time in orbital debris will, of course, be a problem for everyone who seeks to safety launch into orbit since launchers must travel through LEO on their way to a higher orbit. Further there is increasing debris in all orbits and unless the problem is addressed in the nearer term the longer term costs and difficulty of debris removal will exponential increase over time. Just as the issue of the sustainability of the Earth’s environment is becoming exponentially worse and more difficult and expensive to address over time, the same type of problems exist with “kicking the can down the road” with regard to space debris.
    The Urgency of Action and Orbital Priorities
    The urgency of addressing the space debris problem is clearly perceived to be at different levels by those whose missions are related to LEO, MEO and GEO orbit systems. Thus if there are financial approaches devised to collect funds to address this problem, it is likely that contribution levels might well be different for those launching to LEO, MEO, GEO or points beyond. The discussion of orbital debris also often focuses on which countries are responsible for the creation of this problem in the first place. Clearly it is only a few spacefaring nations that were the prime cause of today’s space junk. The primary countries in this regard are clearly the United States, China and Russia.
    Although these three countries—or enterprises based in these countries—are the clear source of this debris, the source of secondary, tertiary, or even quandary debris that has come from subsequent collisions in space is much harder to assess. Instead of trying to assign specific responsibility to a particular country and thus looking backwards in time for a solution, it might be more appropriate to try to look forward to a more integrated global solution. The number of countries launching rockets and spacecraft into space is still only ten in number. The three primary launching countries plus Europe launch about 90 % of all rockets into space and well over 95 % of the total payload mass to orbit—and this will likely remain the case for some time to come.
    Upgrading Debris Tracking Capabilities
    A great deal of activity is now devoted to tracking space debris. Since 1961 the U. S. Air Force has been operating the Space Surveillance System that has been using increasingly outmoded Very High Frequency (VHF) radar tracking and in-orbit resources to track the mounting amount of space debris. As the amount and number of debris objects has increased exponentially, this system has become increasingly unable to keep up with the tracking requirements. This system, which was originally conceived as a means to detect a missile launch attack against the United States, is increasingly utilized to help protect key U. S. orbital assets. This includes anticipating possible collisions with the International Space Station (ISS) by a major debris element and indicating how raising the ISS orbit at the correct time could eliminate such risks.
    The U.S. Air Force has contracted with Lockheed Martin to upgrade the existing radar systems and implement what is known as the “space fence” to have much more precise tracking capabilities. The first elements of this new capability were tested in February and March 2012 and successfully demonstrated orbital debris tracking capability. Based on these tests, the air force approved the design and an implementation plan. Steve Bruce, vice president of the Space Fence program for Lockheed Martin, said in a statement after the tests: “Our final system design incorporates scalable, solid-state S-band radar, with a higher wavelength frequency radar capable of detecting much smaller objects than the Air Force’s current system [12].” This new space fence system will thus eventually be able to track object in LEO down 1 cm or 0.4