<h2>AAS  96-113</h2><h2>INTRODUCING IDES: CHARACTERISING THE ORBITAL DEBRIS ENVIRONMENT IN THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE</h2><h4>R. Walker, S. Hauptman, R. Crowther, H. Stokes, and A. Cant, Defence Research Agency, England</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>The Integrated Debris Evolution Suite (IDES) is a flexible model that has been developed to track the evolution of debris. By simulating past environments, the model can be correlated with measurements, and thus provide more confident predictions of current and future environments. This paper includes a detailed explanation of the IDES modelling approach. Preliminary results from IDES are provided for particle sizes down to 10 microns. The paper compares IDES predicted flux with that experienced by the LDEF. Finally, by using an historical launch database, it explores the contributions of impact-induced ejecta fragments and paint flakes to the debris environment.<br><br>