Avoidance of Satellite Damage by Collisions in Space with theUse of VLF Plasma Waves in Space to Detect the Location of Harmful Space Debris

The number of satellites launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) is increasing at an exponential rate.  Launches support deployment of multi-satellite constellations for many applications.  Experiments with electric field sensors on Swarm-E and with HAARP in Alaska have been conducted to (a) better locate the positions of satellites and space debris for prevention of collisions 
Currently, there are about 27,000 known space objects and over 100 million of unknown pieces of space debris.  Collision avoidance requires precise knowledge of the positions for all space objects.   New techniques are being developed to detect the small, < 10 cm, currently “invisible” objects by the plasma waves they generate in space.  The basis for this technique is that all space objects in orbit around the Earth (1) pass through a magnetized plasma, (2) become electrically charged, and thus (3) produce an electric current that excites electrostatic lower hybrid waves.  Orbital kinetic energy is the power source for the lower hybrid waves.  When the debris moves through field aligned irregularities (FAIs), the lower hybrid waves are converted into whistler, and compressional Alfven waves.  Such whistlers propagate undamped at around 9000 km/s from the source regions and can be detected at ranges of several earth-radii.  
This space debris detection process has been tested with the Canadian Swarm-E satellite using the Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI) that measures electric fields in the 10 Hz to 30 kHz frequency range.  The RRI makes measurements of plasma waves when near known space objects such as Starlink.  An example of these data  typically shows an enhancement in electric fields in a band below the local value of lower hybrid frequency.  This spacecraft signature are whistler waves in a band between the ion cyclotron and lower hybrid frequencies with an upper frequency cutoff not observed for natural whistler waves. These signals can be used to both detect and track unknown space objects by computing their propagation direction and establishing an orbital state vector of the object.  The goal of these measurements is to collect a catalog of space debris with sizes less than 10 cm for collision avoidance.      
References
P.A. Bernhardt, M. K. Griffin, W. C. Bougas, A. D. Howarth, H. G. James, C. L. Siefring, and S. J. Briczinski, (2020) Satellite Observations of Strong Plasma Wave Emissions with Frequency Shifts Induced by an Engine Burn from the Cygnus Spacecraft, Radio Science, 56.
P.A. Bernhardt, R.L Scott, A Howarth, George. J. Morales (2023) Observations of Plasma Waves Generated by Charged Space Objects, Phys. Plasmas 30, 092106, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0155454 
Eliasson, B., & Bernhardt, P. A. (2025). The generation of whistler, lower hybrid and magnetosonic waves by satellites passing through ionospheric magnetic field aligned irregularities. Physics of Plasmas, 32(1), Article 012103. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0225399