ISO/DTR 18146
(Main)Space systems — Space debris mitigation design and operation manual for spacecraft
Space systems — Space debris mitigation design and operation manual for spacecraft
This document contains information on the design and operational practices for launch vehicle orbital stages for mitigating space debris. This document provides information to engineers on what are required or recommended in the family of space debris mitigation standards to reduce the growth of space debris by ensuring that spacecraft is designed, operated, and disposed of in a manner that prevents them from generating debris throughout their orbital lifetime.
Systèmes spatiaux — Conception de réduction des débris spatiaux et manuel d’utilisation pour les engins spatiaux
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ISO/TC 20/SC 14
Space systems — Space debris
Secretariat: ANSI
mitigation design and operation
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manual for spacecraft
2025-04-18
Systèmes spatiaux — Conception de réduction des débris spatiaux
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et manuel d’utilisation pour les engins spatiaux
2025-06-13
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Reference number
FINAL DRAFT
Technical
Report
ISO/TC 20/SC 14
Space systems — Space debris
Secretariat: ANSI
mitigation design and operation
Voting begins on:
manual for spacecraft
Systèmes spatiaux — Conception de réduction des débris spatiaux
Voting terminates on:
et manuel d’utilisation pour les engins spatiaux
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT,
WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION OF ANY
RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH THEY ARE AWARE
AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING DOCUMENTATION.
© ISO 2025
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES, DRAFT
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON OCCASION HAVE
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
TO BECOME STAN DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE
MADE IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS.
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Published in Switzerland Reference number
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .vi
Introduction .viii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative reference . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 1
5 System-level activities . 2
5.1 General .2
5.2 Design for limiting the release of objects .3
[1]
5.2.1 Intents of requirements in ISO 24113 .3
5.2.2 Work breakdown . .3
5.2.3 Identification of released objects and design measures .4
5.2.4 Design measures .5
5.2.5 Monitoring during operation .5
5.2.6 Preventing failure.5
5.3 Prevention of break-up .5
5.3.1 General .5
5.3.2 Break-up caused by intentional behaviour or stored energy .6
5.3.3 Break-up caused by a collision with catalogued objects .7
5.3.4 Break-up caused by the impact of debris or meteoroid .11
5.4 Disposal after the end of mission to minimize interference with the protected regions .18
[1]
5.4.1 Intents of requirements in ISO 24113:2023 .18
5.4.2 Work breakdown . .18
5.4.3 Procedure for determination of mission extension or termination . 20
5.4.4 Disposal plan. 22
5.4.5 Estimation of the orbital lifetime . 23
5.4.6 Design of the function to remove spacecraft from the protected regions.24
5.4.7 Assurance of resources for disposal manoeuvre .24
5.4.8 Calculated reliability of disposal function up to the design life .24
5.4.9 Useful life limited items . 25
5.4.10 Health assessment procedure and contingency planning . 25
5.4.11 Design the monitoring system to monitor the critical parameters . 26
5.4.12 Assessment of the risk of debris impact . 26
5.4.13 Operational remediations .27
5.4.14 Decision-making to extend or terminate the mission. 28
5.4.15 Disposal . 28
5.4.16 Registration of objects launched into outer space complying with the UN treaty . 28
5.4.17 Specific subjects for GEO mission . 28
5.4.18 Specific subjects for LEO mission . 29
5.4.19 High elliptical orbit mission . 29
5.5 Ground safety from re-entering objects . 29
[1]
5.5.1 Intents of requirements in ISO 24113 . 29
5.5.2 Work breakdown . . 29
5.5.3 Identification of requirements . 30
5.5.4 Hazards analysis . 30
5.5.5 Design measures .31
5.5.6 Specific design for controlled re-entry in subsystem level .31
5.5.7 Notification .32
5.5.8 Conduct controlled re-entry and monitoring .32
5.6 Space debris mitigation plan .32
5.7 Quality and reliability assurance . 34
6 Debris-related work in the development cycle .35
6.1 General . 35
iii
6.2 Concept of debris-related work in phased planning . 35
6.3 Mission analysis phase (phase 0 or pre-phase A) . 40
6.3.1 General . 40
6.3.2 Debris-related work . 40
6.4 Feasibility phase (phase A) . 40
6.5 Definition phase (phase B) .41
6.5.1 Work in phase B . .41
6.5.2 Work procedure .41
6.6 Development phase (phase C).42
6.6.1 Work in phase C .42
6.6.2 Conditions.43
6.7 Production phase (phase D) .43
6.7.1 Work in phase D .43
6.7.2 Qualification review . 44
6.8 Utilization phase (phase E) .
...
ISO TC20/SC14/WG7/TC 20/SC 14
Date: 2024-12-09
Secretariat: ANSI/AIAA
Date: 2025-04-04
Space systems — Space debris mitigation design and operation
manual for spacecraft
Systèmes spatiaux — Conception de réduction des débris spatiaux et manuel d’utilisation pour les engins
spatiaux
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication
may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO
at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: + 41 22 749 01 11
E-mail: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.orgDraft Edition 3
Published in Switzerland
Contents page
Foreword . v
Introduction . vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative reference . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 1
5 System-level activities . 2
5.1 General . 2
5.2 Design for limiting the release of objects . 3
5.3 Prevention of break-up . 5
5.4 Disposal after the end of mission to minimize interference with the protected regions . 20
5.5 Ground safety from re-entering objects . 33
5.6 Space debris mitigation plan . 36
5.7 Quality and reliability assurance . 39
6 Debris-related work in the development cycle . 41
6.1 General . 41
6.2 Concept of debris-related work in phased planning . 41
6.3 Mission analysis phase (phase 0 or pre-phase A) . 5
6.4 Feasibility phase (phase A) . 6
6.5 Definition phase (phase B) . 6
6.6 Development phase (phase C) . 7
6.7 Production phase (phase D) . 9
6.8 Utilization phase (phase E) . 9
6.9 Disposal phase (phase F) . 11
7 System-level information . 12
7.1 Mission design . 12
7.2 Mass allocation . 12
7.3 Propellant allocation . 13
7.4 Power allocation . 13
8 Subsystem/component design and operation . 14
8.1 General . 14
8.2 Debris-mitigation measures and subsystem-level actions for realizing them . 14
8.3 Propulsion subsystem . 1
8.4 Attitude and orbit control subsystem . 5
8.5 Power-supply subsystem . 7
8.6 TT&C subsystem . 9
8.7 Structural subsystem . 11
8.8 Thermal-control subsystem . 12
Annex A (informative) Tabulated values of the optimal eccentricity vector . 13
Annex B (informative) Optimal manoeuvre sequences . 49
Annex C (informative) Example calculations . 54
Annex D (informative) Disposal strategy and analysis for sample GEO satellite . 62
Annex E (informative) Sample format of space debris mitigation management plan prepared by
owner (for phase B) . 74
iii
Annex F (informative) Sample format of space debris mitigation plan prepared by contractor
(for phase C) . 84
Bibliography . 95
iv
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of
ISO documentsdocument should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules
of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawnISO draws attention to the possibility that some of the elementsimplementation of this
document may beinvolve the subjectuse of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence,
validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this
document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document.
However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be
obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for
identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the
document are in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see ).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 20, Aircraft and space vehicles, Subcommittee
SC 14, Space systems and operations.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/TR 18146:2020), which has been technically
revised.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
[ [1] ]
— — text has been updated to be aligned with ISO 24113:2023 1 ; ;
— — ISO 16127 was cancelled and requirements relating to prevention of break-up have been transferred
[ [4] ] [
to ISO 23312 4ISO23312 . So that ; references to ISO 16127 hashave been replaced by ISO 23312 4to
[4] ]
ISO23312 in this document. ;
— — ISO 16164 was cancelled and requirements relating to disposal of satellites operating in or crossing
[ [4] ]
Lowlow Earth Orbitorbit have been transferred to ISO 23312 4ISO23312 . So that ; references to ISO
[ [4] ]
16164 hashave been replaced by ISO 23312 4to ISO23312 in this document. ;
— — ISO 23339 was cancelled and requirements relating to mass estimation for residual propellant for
[ [4] ]
disposal manoeuvres have been transferred to ISO 23312 4ISO23312 . So that ; references to ISO 23339
[ [4] ]
hashave been replaced by ISO 23312 4to ISO23312 in this document. ;
— — ISO 26872 was cancelled and requirements relating to disposal of satellites operating at
[4] [ ]
geosynchronous altitude have been transferred to ISO23312 . So that ISO 23312 4 ; references to ISO
v
[ [4]]
26872 hashave been replaced toby ISO 23312 4 and appendixISO 26872:2019, Annexes A, B, C and D of
ISO 26872 have been transferred to this document,;
— — in 5.3.2sub-clause 5.3.2,, the rationale to restrict anti-satellite missile testing as a mean of intentional
destruction has been added,;
— — in 5.3.4sub-clause 5.3.4,, the methods to assess the probability of break-up caused by impact of debris
[ [1] ]
hashave been added corresponding to the requirement of ISO 24113:2023, 1 , 7.3.1.2,;
— — characteristics of Space Debris Mitigation Plan hasthe space debris mitigation plan have been explained
in detailed and Annexes EAppendix E and FF have been added to show the examples.;
[ [1]]
— — other information relating to the changes in ISO 24113 1 has been added.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
vi
Introduction
Coping with debris is essential to preventing the deterioration of the orbital environment and ensuring the
sustainability of space activities. Effective actions are also taken to ensure the safety of those on the ground
from re-entering objects that were disposed of from low -Earth orbit.
Recently, the orbital environment has become so deteriorated by debris that action isactions are taken to
prevent damage due to the impact. Collision avoidance manoeuvres are taken to avoid large debris (e.g. larger
than 10 cm, for example), which can be observed from the ground. Spacecraft design protects against micro-
debris (even smaller than 1 mm) that can cause critical damage to vulnerable components.
[
This TR was designed to explaindocument explains the rationale of requirements in ISO 24113 1of
[1]]
ISO24113 and provideprovides information ofon the process or works to comply withconform to those
requirements. Clause 5 In Clause 5, informs the major space debris mitigation requirements are informed.
In Clause 6Clause 6,, the information of life-cycle implementation of space debris mitigation related activities
is provided.
In Clause 7Clause 7,, the system level aspects stemming from the space debris mitigation requirements are
highlighted; while in Clause 8Clause 8,, the impacts at subsystem and component levels are detailed.
This document provides comprehensive information on what ISO requires to do forthe requirements and
recommendations from ISO documents on the design and operation of the launch vehicles, and where such
requirements and recommendations are registered in a set of ISO documents.
© IS
...
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