The chaser and captured launcher will then be de-orbited and burn up in the atmosphere.Ī key challenge is the substantial cost associated with these proposed solutions, given the immense scale of the space debris problem. The ClearSpace chaser will rendezvous with the target and capture it using four robotic arms. It involves a consortium approach based on a Swiss spinoff company, ClearSpace. The first space removal project is scheduled for 2025 and will be led by the ESA. The Nasa Orion project uses ground-based lasers to destroy small debris. A laboratory in China has been developing a space-based laser system to be installed on a chaser satellite capable of targeting debris of up to 20cm in size. But the challenge is to develop a laser and battery combination that is powerful but lightweight enough. Destructive energy absorption aims to destroy small debris targets using a high-powered laser.This is a soft docking method which is a preliminary step to some subsequent method of debris disposal. Neutral energy balance includes a magnetic capture method which uses magnetic coils to achieve perfect energy balance between chaser and target.After the successful shot, the chaser satellite, harpoon and target would become connected by an elastic tether and the chaser would pull the debris to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up together. In one approach, the chaser satellite deploys a harpoon to penetrate the space debris.
Impact energy dissipation methods seek to decrease the impact energy of the debris.There are two prioritized approaches and a third in development:
FLYING HARPOON HOW TO
One of the main problems in designing space debris removal strategies is how to transfer the energy between the debris (target) and the chaser during the first contact.
This scenario, perpetuated by collisions between space objects creating ever more debris, could also damage our global communications and navigation systems.Ī ClearSpace chaser is designed to use robotic arms to capture space debris.
There is a growing concern, described as the Kessler Syndrome, that we may be creating an envelope of space debris which could prevent human space travel, space exploration and the use of satellites in some parts of Earth's orbit. Scientists have warned the rapid development of mega constellations risks several " tragedies of the commons," including to ground-based astronomy, Earth's orbit and Earth's upper atmosphere. But these private telecommunications ventures will also contribute 50,000 more satellites to already dangerously populated orbits.
Mega constellations of satellites currently being sent into space by corporations such as SpaceX and Amazon are expected to transform access to the internet for all countries. Along with the smaller objects these defunct satellites constitute a major problem both for existing and future satellites and space stations. About 60% of the 6,000 satellites in orbit are now out of order. Most satellites were not designed with the end of their usefulness in mind. While many fragments of space junk are small, they travel so fast their impact has enough energy to disable a satellite or cause significant damage to space stations.īoth the Hubble Telescope and the Solar Maximum Mission ( SMM) satellites had coin-sized holes punched into them by flying debris and a mirror on Nasa's James Webb space telescope was damaged by micrometeoroids. A report presented at this year's European conference on space debris suggests the amount of space junk could increase fifty-fold by 2100. An estimated 130 million objects smaller than 1cm and 34,000 larger than 10cm are traveling in orbit at speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour, according to the European Space Agency ( ESA).
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