“Managing space debris is part of the National Space Policy,” said Capt. Raymond Scholz, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle System Safety Manager. In a world where the benefits of space permeate almost every facet of our lives, we must manage to keep that environment as clean and as safe as possible, he explained.
Among many significant accomplishments, the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch and Range Systems Safety Team’s work ensured safe execution of the $1.5 billion Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program at the 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the 45th SW at Patrick AFB, Fla. The team performed multiple mission assurance activities to ensure the satellites made it to orbit, including appropriate collision avoidance analysis (to reduce the risk of collisions between the launch vehicles and orbiting objects) and safe upper stage controlled re-entries.
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