Orbital collision risk

Orbital collision risk refers to the risk that an operating satellite strikes another object in orbit, whether an active satellite, a defunct spacecraft or debris, at a relative speed that can exceed ten kilometers per second, enough to completely destroy both objects involved. Unlike an internal failure, this peril depends directly on the density of objects in a given orbit and on the quality of conjunction tracking, forecasting a close-approach risk far enough in advance to allow an avoidance maneuver. The growing number of active satellites and debris makes such maneuvers increasingly frequent for operators equipped with propulsion, while non-maneuverable satellites remain fully exposed. A collision produces a debris cloud that often persists for years, degrading the orbital environment for every operator at the same altitude, well beyond the two parties directly involved. For insurers, orbital collision combines a classic total physical loss peril with a liability risk toward the owner of the struck object, plus an accumulation risk through the secondary debris it generates.

On February 10, 2009, the active satellite Iridium 33 collided with the defunct Russian satellite Kosmos 2251 at more than eleven kilometers per second, the first known collision between two intact satellites, generating roughly 2,000 trackable debris fragments.

conjunction risk, risque de conjonction, collision satellitaire, orbital collision