Red Ice News

The Future is the Past

Switzerland to Launch ’Janitor’ Satellite to Collect Pieces of Space Junk
New to Red Ice? Start Here!

Switzerland to Launch ’Janitor’ Satellite to Collect Pieces of Space Junk

Source: inhabitat.com
Space junk is an ongoing problem for the world’s space administrations as decades worth of satellite launches and space missions have filled the Earth’s orbit with trash such as fuel tanks, lost tools and parts of derelict satellites.

In order to combat this growing hazard and to avoid potentially devastating collisions, the Swiss Space Center at EPFL has launched CleanSpace One, a project to develop and build the first installment of satellites designed specifically to clean up space debris.


Of the thousands of pieces of space junk in orbit, NASA is monitoring at least 16,000 of these objects that are larger than 10 cm in diameter. This is because if they collide with spacecraft or satellites at high speed, massive damage can occur. Not just that, but more junk is created. Enter CleanSpace One.

“It has become essential to be aware of the existence of this debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation,” says Claude Nicollier, astronaut and EPFL professor. CleanSpace One is the Swiss Space Center’s first prototype in a family of “de-orbiting” satellites. For its first mission, the spacecraft will be tasked with targeting either Switzerland’s first orbiting object, the Swisscube picosatellite which was put in orbit in 2009, or its cousin TIsat, launched in July 2010.

However, it won’t be a simple task. Once in orbit, CleanSpace One will have to adjust its trajectory in order to match its target’s orbital plane. This is not an easy job and the EPFL are curently working on a new kind of ultra-compact motor to do this. Once it is within range of its target (which will be traveling at 28,000 km/h at an altitude of 630-750 km), CleanSpace One will have to grab and stabilize it using a special gripping mechanism. Once this is done, CleanSpace One will “de-orbit” the unwanted satellite by heading back into the Earth’s atmosphere, where the two satellites will burn upon re-entry.

[...]

Read the full article at: inhabitat.com

Comments

We're Hiring

We are looking for a professional video editor, animator and graphics expert that can join us full time to work on our video productions.

Apply

Help Out

Sign up for a membership to support Red Ice. If you want to help advance our efforts further, please:

Donate

Tips

Send us a news tip or a
Guest suggestion

Send Tip

Related News

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Launches Tesla Roadster and Starman into Space
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Launches Tesla Roadster and Starman into Space
Make Space Great Again: Trump Orders Establishment of 'Space Force' as 6th Branch of Military
Make Space Great Again: Trump Orders Establishment of 'Space Force' as 6th Branch of Military

Archives Pick

Red Ice T-Shirts

Red Ice Radio

3Fourteen

Con Inc., J6 Political Prisoners & The Pedophile Problem
Kim Coulter - Con Inc., J6 Political Prisoners & The Pedophile Problem
Why European Culture, Art and Beauty Matter
Gifts - Why European Culture, Art and Beauty Matter

TV

Laughter: The New Weapon Of The Far-Right
Laughter: The New Weapon Of The Far-Right
London’s Fourth Plinth To Get Fat Black “Everywoman” Statue
London’s Fourth Plinth To Get Fat Black “Everywoman” Statue

RSSYoutubeGoogle+iTunesSoundCloudStitcherTuneIn

Design by Henrik Palmgren © Red Ice Privacy Policy