Link to ERC news: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2022-consolidator-grants-results

The growth of space debris is following an exponential trend, which is typical of many other environmental stressors of Earth system trends. Immediate actions are needed to mitigate the increasing risk of collisions and enable the future use of Space as a common.

In GREEN SPECIES project Prof. Camilla Colombo and her research team, the COMPASS group , will devise a new interdisciplinary framework for the modelling of the space debris population, and the forecast of its evolution. A probabilistic space debris model will be devised for the overall space debris environment. As unique feature, the project will incorporate the management of the debris environment through a robust time-delayed controller, applied to the space debris model, described as a complex dynamical system. Policies will act as the actuator of a real controlled system. GREEN SPECIES will propose the first economic model for a revenue system for Sustainable Space by leveraging approaches from the management of the global climate by engaging with the global community of space debris experts and policy makers. The project will allow the creation of the Space Sustainability Lab for the advance modelling and control of the debris environment employing high performance computing and virtual reality.