Space debris is a hazard to our satellites and spacecraft as well as a contributor to near-Earth space pollution. To help raise awareness of this issue, ESA’s Education Office and Space Debris Office are organising the fifth edition of ESA Academy’s Space Debris Training Course. The Training Course will be held online between 16 and 25 May 2022.

Apply for the course here. The deadline for applications to participate in the Online Space Debris Training Course 2022 is 11 April 2022, 23:59 CEST. 

More information on who is eligible to apply is available here. For additional questions, please contact tlp@esa.int  

Participating University students will be provided with an introduction to the concept of space debris, why it is necessary to address this problem, and how the mitigation policies set by ESA apply to missions. Participants will not only learn about the space debris environment and mitigation technologies and future challenges such as large satellite constellations, but also about how it impacts spacecraft operations and potential future solutions. Current topics such as large satellite constellations and new space traffic management developments will be discussed. Taught by ESA experts as well as external experts in the sector, the course will be delivered through formal technical lectures complemented by hands-on exercises based on a real-life case study. 

This training course is a collaboration between ESA’s Education Office and ESA’s Space Debris Office, based at ESOC, which coordinates ESA's research activities in all major debris disciplines. These include measurements, modelling, protection, and mitigation. It also operates ESA’s collision avoidance system, implements space debris aspects in the Agency’s Space Safety programme and represents ESA on space debris matters at international bodies such as the IADC (Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee) or UNCOPUOS (United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space).