New York University Abu Dhabi Team Report:
Strategies to Address the Space Debris Problem – A Policy, Economic, and Technological Analysis

In the aftermath of decades of space exploration and technological advancement, our earth finds itself encircled by swirling clouds of our own space waste, choking up the paths of current satellites and other functioning equipment. The debris orbits primarily in two main fields: a ring in the geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) and a cloud in low earth orbit (LEO), however it is far from limited to either of these areas. The suspended quantity of over 21,000 trackable man-made objects is not only hazardous in and of itself, but also risks creating a cascade of collision and fragmentation into even more pieces of debris. In addition to the larger and more easily detectable items, millions of tiny debris pieces threaten current missions, particularly vulnerable equipment such as solar panels and telescopes. The substantial technical and financial cost posed by space debris makes the orbital environment an urgent issue in policy and technological development, however many proposed solutions are as expensive and resource intensive as the problem itself. This paper seeks to investigate and evaluate the measures that have been tried and those that hold promise for the sustainable maintenance of earth’s orbits. Read More

The New York University Abu Dhabi team featured five members:

Alison Waterman

Hannah Kasak-Gliboff

Aaryan Sharma

Kartikey Singhal

Anch Kachalia

Alison Waterman is passionate about increasing access to space technology and quality STEM education for students around the world. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from New York University Abu Dhabi in May 2020, where she specialized in embedded control systems for CubeSats and UAVs and was the president of the SEDS Aerospace Club and Women Empowered in STEM organizations. She is now working full-time in the space industry at DreamUp PBC, a company that provides space-based research opportunities and educational products for students of all ages.

Hannah Kasak-Gliboff is a senior at New York University Abu Dhabi majoring in the social sciences with a focus on the environment. As someone passionate about sustainability on Earth, the space debris challenge presents an interesting new frontier for sustainable design thinking and environmental policy.

Aaryan Sharma is a 2nd-year undergraduate student pursuing a Physics major at New York University Abu Dhabi. Aaryan is passionate about space exploration and is the current Vice President of the SEDS Aerospace Club at NYUAD. When not contemplating the meaning of life, he likes to spend his free time playing and watching sports or enjoying a good science fiction movie. He also actively supports the cause of inclusion by learning sign language.

Kartikey Singhal is a sophomore from India at New York University Abu Dhabi, studying Mathematics and Computer Science, with interests in Space Exploration, Research and Data Sciences. With proficiency in Python, and R, he aims to make the world a better place using big data to predict global trends. His interest in Sci-Fi and space exploration motivated him to work on this project. With a passion for everything technology, he can often be found aggressively discussing the latest laptop specs. He can talk for hours on Pop Culture, sports and weird facts. If in a bad mood, hit him up to hear one of his “amazing” (citation needed) jokes.

Anch Kachalia is originally from Mumbai, India, but now calls NYU Abu Dhabi his home. He is a sophomore majoring in Economics with a passion for both numbers and space. Anch greatly enjoyed exploring the relationship between economics and space exploration through this year’s competition.

The team was mentored by Therese Jones.