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Impact on operational spacecraft and satellites by orbital debris is an increasing hazard for Low Earth Orbit. With impact speeds of order 5 – 25 km/s, the resulting impacts are in the hypervelocity regime. In this regime, impact by even a 1 mm sized object can cause loss of functionality and risk mission failure. Impact by cm sized objects can cause catastrophic disruption of the target body, showering Low Earth Orbit with many more fragments of debris and risking a runaway chain reaction of ever more impacts. The risk is growing with an ever-increasing number of satellites, yet is hard to quantify due to issues with detection of small debris objects. At the end of 2025, some Chinese astronauts were temporarily stuck in space after something hit their return capsule. And so far in 2026 a Spanish satellite has undergone an impact. The risk is real and growing. All this will be discussed along with possible mitigations.

The online meeting timings: 1pm to 2pm (BST).
Fees: there is no fee to attend this event for IOP members and a nominal fee for non-members, all attendees must register by completing the online registration form.

This conference would be of particular interest to IOP Groups: Astroparticle Physics, Early Career Member, Shock Waves and Extreme, Space, but all are welcome.

Banner picture: the design for a proposed European Space Agency orbital debris detector (see SDC9-paper338.pdf)