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About the Lecture: Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, thousands of satellites have followed suit. The Space Age has opened up a wealth of opportunities, but sadly a great deal of mess has accrued in our wake. Fragments of space debris routinely pose a threat to active satellites and, if left untamed, may soon render certain orbital regions unusable for future generations to come. In this talk, I will look to paint a relatively current picture of the debris environment and explore the challenges and merits of potential solutions to the problem that have been proposed in recent years. I will also present some of the ongoing efforts at the University of Warwick to detect, track and characterise artificial objects in space.

About the Speaker: James Blake is a final-year PhD student at the University of Warwick. With a background in optical astronomy, he has spent the past few years applying astronomical tools and techniques to the problem of space debris. Much of his work has involved the repurposing of astronomical instruments in La Palma, Canary Islands, to observe satellites and survey the night sky for untracked fragments of debris.