ESA introduces new laser tracking station to protect satellites from space debris

In a bid to mitigate the menace of space debris, the European Space Agency (ESA) has introduced its new Izaña 1 (IZN-1) laser ranging station in Spain's Tenerife. Built by German company DiGOS, the laser station has reached the 'acceptance' stage after the telescope and laser underwent months of testing and commissioning. Installed in mid-2021 at the Teide Observatory, the station has used its green beam to actively detect, track and observe active satellites orbiting the Earth.

While the laser currently operates at 150mW, ESA said it will soon be upgraded so it can also track debris objects with a much more powerful infrared laser with an average power of 50 Watts. "Currently, only satellites fitted with retroreflectors can be tracked from ESA’s Izaña station, making up just a proportion of the total population,” Clemens Heese from ESA said as per the agency's statement.

How would the technology help with space debris?

Explaining the use of the new laser technology, ESA said that Izana-1 provides support for vital collision avoidance and acts as a testbed for new sustainable technologies. Apart from tracking active and defunct satellites along with pieces of space junk, the laser would nudge the debris objects in different trajectories to avoid any collision. Although there are several laser tracking stations around Europe, what makes IZN-1 first-of-its-kind is its dual functionality. The agency revealed that it could also be used for optical communications and would become the first fully autonomous robotic system.

How safe would the laser technology be?

ESA explained that the IZN-1 station's laser aimed at the sky would not birds and planes as the lasers would use a power of under 100 Watts, which is about 1/20th of the energy of an electric kettle. Andrea di Mira, Optoelectronics Engineer at ESA said that lasers striking planes can be extremely dangerous as they would distract the pilots, however, Mira added, "We are very, very careful that this does not happen, with a set of sensors scanning the sky for aircraft to ensure our lasers do not get remotely close to them". 

The agency revealed that with further developments, the laser station would be used to test the concept of ‘networked space debris laser ranging’ to build a satellite catalogue in the future.

Image: Twitter/@esaoperations