Collaborate Disseminate
Purdue University engineers have developed a space-debris-clearing drag sail called Spinnaker3 that is designed to speed up the deorbiting of space junk up to 400 miles (645 km) high so it safely burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The sail will be put… Continue reading Space-junk sail to help deorbit its own launch vehicle
Private orbital debris removal company Astroscale has validated its magnetic capture system that is designed to tackle the problem of space debris. Its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) servicer satellite managed to capture a si… Continue reading ELSA-d spacecraft captures “space debris” in orbit for the first time
Continue reading Getting Rid of All the Space Junk in Earth’s Backyard
The International Space Station (ISS) made an emergency course correction to move it out of the path of a then-unidentified piece of space debris earlier this week. The Russian Progress 75 cargo ship fired its thrusters for 150 seconds in order to make… Continue reading The ISS changes course to dodge space debris on short notice
Given how many satellites and bits of orbital debris are now orbiting the Earth, it’s becoming increasingly important to keep track of where they all are. A new telescope system allows space agencies and other clients to do so – even in broad daylight…. Continue reading Numerica telescope tracks satellites in broad daylight
A team of ESA scientists has developed a way to use lasers to accurately track space debris even in broad daylight. Using a combination of special telescopes, detectors, and light filters tuned to specific wavelengths, it’s now possible to increase the… Continue reading Upping the contrast enables daytime laser tracking of space debris
The buildup of space debris is a serious problem that won’t be going away anytime soon, with thousands of pieces of junk currently in orbit around the Earth. A team of researchers has put forward a novel way to keep things in check, making a case for c… Continue reading Could orbital fees force satellite operators to deal with space junk?
In the early days, satellites didn’t stick around for very long. After it was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, it only took about three months for Sputnik 1 to renter the atmosphere and burn up. But the constant drive to push ever further into space meant that soon …read more
For humans and satellites alike, making a living is space is hard. First, there’s the problem of surviving the brief but energetic and failure-prone ride there, after which you get to alternately roast and freeze as you zip around the planet at 20 times the speed of sound. The latter …read more
Continue reading Russia’s Newest Weather Satellite May Have Be Killed by Space Junk
In order to at least begin addressing the growing problem of space debris, numerous groups are now looking into methods of de-orbiting satellites once their operational lives have ended. One of the latest approaches involves getting the space… Continue reading Dangling tape could be used to de-orbit old satellites