The long-standing problem of space debris is finally being addressed by Japanese firm Astroscale. They have launched a special test mission, sending a couple of satellites into space to remove hazardous debris orbiting our planet.
The technology is called “ELSA-d,” which means end-of-life services for Astroscale demonstration. The rocket carrying the satellites took off on March 22 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Experts have long warned that the 9,200 tonnes of space debris orbiting the planet is estimated to pose a threat to the satellites we rely on for weather reports, air travel and global communications.
The problem could get worse as private companies like SpaceX, Google and OneWeb prepare to send a large number of new satellites into space.
What will happen during the test mission?
The mission is to launch two spacecraft into orbit: a service satellite to collect debris and a client satellite to be placed as debris.
The service satellite has been developed to safely remove debris from orbit, using proximity technologies and a magnetic coupling mechanism. The client satellite is a fragment of a space replica equipped with a plate that allows coupling.
Throughout the summer, ELSA-d will repeatedly release and trap with the customer in a series of technical demonstrations, showing how it could be found and docked with satellites and other missing debris.
“What ELSA-d does is a rigid robotic arm, so to speak, that locks magnetically and can do all six degrees of freedom. So up, down, left, right, back and forth forward, and all rotations, ”explains Chris Walker, chief spacecraft operations engineer.
“Therefore, equipping a prepared customer with a very light magnetic coupling plate will allow ELSA-d to capture, paste and control it.”
Demonstrations will include looking for the client, inspecting him and meeting him, as well as the coupling that falls and does not, which Walker and his colleagues call “dance mode”.
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