A research laboratory in England is proposing a bold solution to the problem of space junk cluttering Earth's orbit: using harpoons, nets, and lasers to clean up. They're calling it RemoveDebris.

With all our GPS-reliant and internet-capable devices, the demand for satellites rises all the time. There are currently 1,381 satellites in Earth's orbit and, according to the United States Space Surveillance Network, there are more than 21,000 objects larger than four inches in that same orbit, plus 50,000 bits and pieces smaller than that. These objects range from paint and metallic chips to spent boosters.

"The problem with so much junk up there now is it is actually starting to prove a real issue, and the chance of collisions is increasing all the time," says Jason Forshaw, the project manager of RemoveDebris at the Surrey Space Center.

So the researchers have now built a RemoveDebris platform: a microsatellite they call RemoveSat. The Surrey Space Center works in conjuction with a private enterprise called Surrey Satellite Technology LTD (SSTL), and the RemoveSat microsatellites are derivative of SSTL's X-series.

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For testing, they will launch artificial space junk called CubeSats with which to practice. Surrey has three main ideas on how to clear space debris.

One involves nets, which would entangle the CubeSat and then use "motor driven winches" to "reel in the neck of the net preventing re-opening." Another option would be a harpoon, which would pin the CubeSat and reel it in. The harpoon would be "designed in such a way to contain debris from the impact face and also has an end-stop to prevent it from passing through the impact surface," according to Surrey. Third, a Visual Based Navigation (VBN) system would use the net and the harpoon to calibrate the microsatellite's position relative to the trash. The VBN system would use laser surveying technology called LIDAR to accurately pinpoint the CubeSat.

There's also the idea of the drag sail, which satellites would use to dispose of themselves. By applying a sail to an orbiting satellite, making it return to Earth faster. The satellite would then burn up in the atmosphere.

At this point, RemoveDebris still wants to figure out which method is most effective. Since RemoveDebris "obviously does not want to produce any excess debris in orbit from its activities," according to its website, these trials will take place low altitude, under 250 feet miles up. Plans are underway for RemoveDebris to being in in the coming months.

Source: The Guardian

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