UM center to focus on outer-space ‘junk’

The University of Maryland announced it has established the Center for Orbital Debris Education and Research to address issues related to orbiting space “junk,” which scientists view as a significant threat to communications, defense and research satellites.

CODER will also serve as a hub for academic, industry and government research collaboration.

Although there are other, existing organizations concerned with orbiting space debris, most concentrate on a single aspect of the problem — tracking, modeling, remediation, mitigation, etc. — said Raymond Sedwick, a UM associate professor of aerospace engineering and founding faculty member.

“CODER will serve as a research collective to provide expertise in all of these areas,” he said.