Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Russian: Космодром «Плесецк») is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.

Plesetsk is used especially for military satellites placed into high inclination and polar orbits since the range for falling debris is clear to the north which is largely uninhabited Arctic and polar terrain. It is situated in a region of taiga, or flat terrain with boreal pine forests. The Soyuz rocket, Cosmos-3M, Rockot, and Tsyklon are launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The heavy Proton and Zenit rockets can only be land-launched from Baikonur (Zenit may also be launched at sea).

Bertin Technologies develop activities in aerospace research & development, having provided valuable input in the development programmes of all of the leading European players in this field, including CNES, ESA, EADS, Thales and Safran.

Thanks to its multidisciplinary range of competencies (thermal engineering, mechanical engineering, physical modelling, ergonomics, precision electronics), Bertin Technologies' activities are all encompassing, ranging from consulting, studies and expertise (technology transfer, feasibility studies, functional analysis, workspace layout, risk management, human factor analysis, etc.) to the design and delivery of high-tech equipment (onboard electronics, optical and thermal equipment, image processing, ground support equipment, heavy load transport).

The Russian Space Research Institute is in performing, within the Russian Academy of Sciences, investigations of Outer Space, Solar System planets and other objects of the Universe.

It is primary in charge of long-range planning and elaboration of space research programs of which a considerable part is performed within the framework of international space research cooperation.

(Russian: Институт космических исследований Российской Академии Наук, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian abbreviation: ИКИ РАН, IKI RAN)

The International Institute of Space Law (IISL) was founded in 1960.

The purposes and objectives of the Institute include the cooperation with appropriate international organisations and national institutions in the field of space law and the carrying out of tasks for fostering space law development.

Space law is an area of the law that encompasses national and international law governing activities in outer space.

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, located at the Johnson Space Center, is the lead NASA center for orbital debris research.

It is conducting measurements of the environment and in developing the technical consensus for adopting mitigation measures to protect users of the orbital environment. Work at the Center continues with developing an improved understanding of the orbital debris environment and measures that can be taken to control debris growth.

The ESA Space Debris Office coordinates ESA's research activities in all major debris disciplines, including measurements, modelling, protection, and mitigation, and coordinates such activities with national research efforts with space agencies in Italy (ASI), the United Kingdom (BNSC), France (CNES) and Germany (DLR). Together with ESA, these national agencies form the European Network of Competences on Space Debris (SD NoC).

ESA's Space Debris Office has also been a forerunner in the definition of a European Space Surveillance System.

ESA's Space Debris Office provides operational services in support of planned and ongoing missions within ESA and to third parties.

ESA's Space Debris Office provides operational services in support of planned and ongoing missions within ESA and to third parties.

MASTER (Meteoroid and Space Debris Terrestrial Environment Reference) is a software that can be used to analyze space debris flux and spatial densities. T

he following sources of debris are considered: launch and mission-related objects, explosion and collision fragments, solid rocket motor slag and dust, NaK droplets, surface degradation products, ejecta, and meteoroids. MASTER can deliver flux and spatial density analysis for all epochs between 1957 and 2060. For all epochs, the lower size threshold is one micron. The analysis of the future debris environment is possible based on three different future scenarios (business as usual, intermediate mitigation, full mitigation). The MASTER-2009 software is delivered on a DVD, together with extensive documentation of the underlying models. The software is available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and MacOS X.

MASTER is developed and maintained by the ESA Space Debris Office.

PROOF (Program for Radar and Observation Forecasting) is a software for the simulation of radar- and telescope-based space debris observations.

It is delivered together with the MASTER software. It can be applied for the validation of space debris models like MASTER against observation data. Another use is the planning of debris observation campaigns, including the derivation of neccessary sensor parameters.

PROOF-2009 has been applied in the course of the MASTER-2009 validation process to properly interpret debris observations performed by the ESA Space Debris Telescope, the Liquid Mirror Telescope, the Tracking and Imaging Radar, the Goldstone, and the Haystack Radar. With the new version of PROOF, a simulation of multistatic radar observations, and of phased array radars is now possible.

The software is available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and MacOS X.

PROOF is developed and maintained by the ESA Space Debris Office.

PROOF (Program for Radar and Observation Forecasting) is a software for the simulation of radar- and telescope-based space debris observations.

It is delivered together with the MASTER software. It can be applied for the validation of space debris models like MASTER against observation data. Another use is the planning of debris observation campaigns, including the derivation of neccessary sensor parameters.

PROOF-2009 has been applied in the course of the MASTER-2009 validation process to properly interpret debris observations performed by the ESA Space Debris Telescope, the Liquid Mirror Telescope, the Tracking and Imaging Radar, the Goldstone, and the Haystack Radar. With the new version of PROOF, a simulation of multistatic radar observations, and of phased array radars is now possible.

The software is available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and MacOS X.

PROOF is developed and maintained by the ESA Space Debris Office.

MASTER (Meteoroid and Space Debris Terrestrial Environment Reference) is a software that can be used to analyze space debris flux and spatial densities. T

he following sources of debris are considered: launch and mission-related objects, explosion and collision fragments, solid rocket motor slag and dust, NaK droplets, surface degradation products, ejecta, and meteoroids. MASTER can deliver flux and spatial density analysis for all epochs between 1957 and 2060. For all epochs, the lower size threshold is one micron. The analysis of the future debris environment is possible based on three different future scenarios (business as usual, intermediate mitigation, full mitigation). The MASTER-2009 software is delivered on a DVD, together with extensive documentation of the underlying models. The software is available for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and MacOS X.

MASTER is developed and maintained by the ESA Space Debris Office.