Britain’s first space garbage truck can hold a bear and clean up junk.
The two techniques are being proposed by competing companies for UK contracts to start cleanup missions in 2026.
The winning prototype will track and capture the two non-functioning satellites, throw them into the atmosphere and burn them.
Alarm bells are sounding at the amount of debris rotating around the Earth at 18,000 miles per hour. Collisions with critical satellites can bring down everyday services such as telecommunications and GPS navigation.
Rory Holmes of one of our competitors, ClearSpace, told Sky News:
“When it runs out of fuel or breaks down, we just throw it away. We leave it to clog up space.
“We’re in a situation where the universe is so overcrowded right now, all these different dead objects swell, cross each other’s paths, sometimes collide, sometimes get in the way of what we want to do in space. are doing.”
ClearSpace is designing a spacecraft that looks a bit like a giant squid, with multiple extended arms that wrap around a target satellite.
Requires complex robotics
Holmes calls it a “bear hug.”
“We have to find a way to capture and confine these objects so they don’t leave us,” he said.
“One of the advantages of the mechanism we have is that we can avoid the object completely before pulling it in firmly so that it doesn’t slip off or go off in an unexpected direction. is.”
Another Oxfordshire-based company, Astroscale, plans to use spacecraft with long robotic arms to grab defunct satellites.
Jason Forshaw, the company’s head of future business, said designing a spacecraft capable of evaluating and capturing aging satellites is a major challenge.
“Maybe another piece fell off the satellite,” he said.
“Sometimes the antenna falls, other times it hits debris.
“So the first challenge is to inspect the debris when we get there to see what condition it is in.
“Then the second stage actually approaches and latches on to it, but with the complexity of the robotics required to do that.”
Increased collision risk
Spacecraft must operate autonomously. When dealing with such fast-moving satellites, the radio signal from ground control arrives too late.
Astroscale hopes satellite manufacturers will start adding standardized docking plates to their designs to make it easier for another spacecraft to refuel and serve or remove from orbit. .
read more:
3 tons of space debris is flying towards the moon
The International Space Station was forced to dodge debris
According to the British Space Agency, there are more than 130 million pieces of space debris orbiting Earth, from tiny crumbs of paint to old satellites, spent rocket bodies and even tools dropped by astronauts.
Active satellites and the International Space Station must periodically change orbits to avoid dangerous debris.
But only larger pieces can be tracked, and as near-Earth orbits become more crowded, the risk of collisions increases.
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pressure companies to take responsibility for space debris
Simulations show that removing a large object before it collides and creates a cloud of smaller debris reduces the risk of a series of runaway impacts destroying multiple satellites.
The British Space Agency (UKSA) provided both companies with £4 million to design the cleanup mission.
The agency’s Adam Camilletti said: “We are looking for a defunct UK-registered satellite.
“Those are our satellites. We want to lead the way in being responsible actors in the universe, unloading that crap and not threatening others.”
The UK space industry already supports 47,000 jobs and generates £16.5 billion a year. But as pressure mounts on countries and companies to take responsibility for space debris, new opportunities for growth emerge.
“By taking the lead, not only in developing active debris removal, but also in understanding the laws and guidelines that must be followed, it shows that the UK is taking its commitments seriously,” says Adam. said Mr.
“It puts us in a great position for future business. If we’re the first to demonstrate that, we’ll be the go-to place for those deals.”
