How can we clear the growing clutter cluttering our access road to space?
In short: With roughly half a million pieces of debris currently orbiting Earth, our path to the stars is becoming increasingly crowded. From robotic tentacles to solar sails, scientists are developing increasingly wild methods to capture and remove the derelict satellites and junk that threaten future space exploration.
The scale of orbital debris is a mounting crisis. NASA estimates that approximately 500,000 pieces of space junk are currently cluttering Earth's orbit. This debris poses a significant risk to the satellites and spacecraft we rely on for communication and exploration. To address this, various international agencies and private companies have proposed diverse, and sometimes radical, removal strategies.
One approach involves physical capture. The European Space Agency has explored the e.DeOrbit mission, first proposed in early 2014, which targets debris in polar orbits between 800 and 1,000 kilometers. To snag these objects, researchers are considering mechanisms like nets, harpoons, robotic arms, or even tentacles. Similarly, the Swiss Space Systems proposed the CleanSpace One technology demonstration, which was expected to launch from a modified Airbus A300 jumbo jet in 2018 to move a decommissioned SwissCube nanosatellite.
Other methods rely on physics rather than physical grasping. Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency has proposed using an electrodynamic tether; by using electrical currents, the tether slows a piece of debris, causing it to descend into Earth's atmosphere to burn up. In the United Kingdom, the CubeSail proposal suggests using solar sails to harness solar drag to push debris into lower orbits. Meanwhile, researchers at Texas A&M University have explored the 'Sling-Sat Space Sweeper,' a concept that uses momentum to swing from one piece of debris to another, saving fuel during the cleanup process.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Cleaning Up Outer Space
- Also: Space Junk Clean Up: 7 Wild Ways to Destroy Orbital Debris
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