Did you know that there is an estimated 7,500 tonnes of old space hardware circling around the Earth? Well, this garbage is on its way to being history with the launch of the RemoveDebris project.
The small satellite was recently launched in a bid to test the technologies that we could in future use to clean up the junk that’s orbiting our planet. It’s armed with a net to trap objects, as well as a harpoon.
Although it’s small, at 100 kilograms the satellite is actually the biggest that has ever been released from the International Space Station.
Engineers in southern England, which is where the satellite’s control station is situated, picked up its signal on its first pass overhead. The satellite was assembled in Surrey, and the project is under the scientific leadership of the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in southern England.
RemoveDebris will first go through rigorous testing as it orbits the Earth, before beginning its experiments. The garbage that orbits the Earth is of concern as it could cause a collision hazard to future space missions. It’s relatively low in cost, so could prove a viable alternative to other proposals such as robotic arms and other more complex ideas.
