CST: A new semi-empirical tool for simulating spacecraft collisions in orbit

This paper provides a general description of a new Collision Simulation Tool (CST) to model the consequences of orbital impacts involving large debris and satellites, with the aim to predict fragments distributions in case of sub-catastrophic and catastrophic impacts. The new tool is being developed in the framework of the ESA contract “Numerical simulations for spacecraft catastrophic disruption analysis”, carried out by the Center of Studies and Activities for Space CISAS “G. Colombo” of the University of Padova (prime contractor) and etamax space GmbH.