Presentation synopsis:
Access to space is no longer restricted to national agencies and international collaboration; lower cost spacecraft and launch solutions are facilitating a surge in the number of spacecraft being put into Earth orbit.  This, coupled with the trend towards the deployment of constellations of hundreds or thousands of spacecraft, is contributing to a rapidly escalating pollution crisis in Earth's orbits.  

The growing space debris threat will be described, along with mitigation strategies being developed by Astroscale.  Spacecraft missions being developed to tackle the problem will be presented and the unique challenges of this mission type will be discussed.

Bio:
Al is the Head of Spacecraft Operations for Astroscale Ltd.  He has 20 years' experience in spacecraft operations, covering 24 missions for a variety of businesses and agencies across Europe and Japan.  He has worked on all mission phases from concept development through operations preparation, launch, commissioning, mission execution and end of life disposal.  Currently he is helping to develop and fly multiple space debris removal missions for Astroscale.