The DebriSat project was conceived to provide NASA and the DoD with an updated dataset to improve existing breakup models. One of the key sets of parameters used in the break-up models is the fragment's physical characteristics including its characteristic length, average cross-sectional area, volume, and area-to-mass ratio. The DebriSat test article was engineered to obtain these parameters with components, materials, and processes commonly utilized in modern LEO satellites and subjected to a laboratory hypervelocity impact (HVI) test to emulate a catastrophic on-orbit collision. In the post-HVI phase, all fragments with at least one linear dimension greater than or equal to 2 mm are carefully collected, characterized, and recorded into the Debris Categorization System database. After five years of processing fragments from the laboratory HVI test, over 203,000 fragments have been collected to date, comparatively higher than the 85,000 fragments predicted by the current break-up model. Of the collected fragments, approximately 30% have been characterized to date.
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