The European Space Debris Safety and Mitigation Standard

To tackle the space debris problem, members from ASI BNSC, CNES, DLR and ESA set up a European Debris Mitigation Standard Working Group (EDMSWG). They propose a draft standard as one of the series of ECSS Standards intended to be applied for the management, engineering and product assurance in space projects and applications. The requirements in the draft standard are defined in terms of what must be accomplished, rather than in terms of how to organise and perform the necessary work. This allows existing organisational structures and methods within agencies and industry to be applied where they are effective, and for such structures and methods to evolve as necessary, without the need for rewriting the standards. The draft standard, which comprises management requirements, design requirements and operational requirements, is currently in the process of being introduced as a standard into ECSS. (C) 2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.