{"id":13726,"date":"2018-06-26T17:22:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T09:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/space-junk-clean-up-demonstrator-deployed-from-space-station\/"},"modified":"2018-06-26T17:22:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T09:22:32","slug":"space-junk-clean-up-demonstrator-deployed-from-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/space-junk-clean-up-demonstrator-deployed-from-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Space junk clean-up demonstrator deployed from space station"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT).<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33095\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33095\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33095\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDuCVAAAna80-678x452.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDuCVAAAna80-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDuCVAAAna80-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDuCVAAAna80-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDuCVAAAna80.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The RemoveDebris satellite deployed from the International Space Station on June 20. Credit: NASA\/NanoRacks\/Ricky Arnold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A small satellite assembled in Britain has been released from the International Space Station, commencing a standalone mission to test technology and techniques that could be used to capture and de-orbit space junk in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Loaded with experiments crafted by engineers across Europe, the RemoveDebris spacecraft has powered up and is undergoing checkouts after its deployment June 20 from the space station\u2019s Canadian robotic arm.<\/p>\n<p>The cube-shaped spacecraft measures about 3 feet (1 meter) on each side, and weighed about 220 pounds (100 kilograms when it launched April 2 from Cape Canaveral inside a SpaceX Dragon supply ship.<\/p>\n<p>Soon after the resupply mission\u2019s arrival at the space station April 4, astronauts transferred the RemoveDebris satellite from the Dragon capsule\u2019s cargo compartment into the Japanese Kibo lab module. The station\u2019s crew&nbsp;removed shields used to protect the spacecraft during launch, then placed it on a sliding tray inside the Kibo lab\u2019s airlock.<\/p>\n<p>The spacecraft transferred through the airlock to the Japanese lab\u2019s outside science deck, where the robotic arm grabbed it and move to a predetermined position for release June 20 from the Kaber microsatellite deployer, a device developed and owned by Houston-based NanoRacks.<\/p>\n<p>RemoveDebris was the largest satellite deployed from the International Space Station to date, following scores of CubeSats and a pair of microsatellites \u2014 both smaller than RemoveDebris \u2014 which used the Kaber mechanism last year.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33096\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33096\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33096\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgIfXNWU8AA9KG0-678x1016.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"1016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgIfXNWU8AA9KG0-678x1016.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgIfXNWU8AA9KG0-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgIfXNWU8AA9KG0-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgIfXNWU8AA9KG0.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, commander of the space station\u2019s Expedition 56 crew, works with the RemoveDebris spacecraft as it does into the Kibo module\u2019s airlock in preparation for deployment. Credit: NASA\/NanoRacks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Developed in a public-private partnership, the RemoveDebris mission will test the utility of nets and harpoons to capture tumbling objects in orbit, repurposing devices commonly used in fishing to pluck debris out of orbit and bring them into Earth\u2019s atmosphere to burn up.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview before the launch of RemoveDebris in April, Guglielmo Aglietti, principal investigator for the RemoveDebris mission, called the project a \u201cproof-of-concept.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They crux of the mission, Aglietti told Spaceflight Now, is to prove that cleaning up space junk can be relatively inexpensive \u2014 something that could be affordable by commercial companies, or governments operating under budget limitations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter almost five years of development, it is exciting to finally be in a position where we can test these extremely exciting technologies in the field,\u201d said Aglietti, director of the Surrey Space Center, a research institute affiliated with the University of Surrey and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a British manufacturer of small satellites.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf successful, the technologies found in RemoveDebris could be included in other missions in the very near future,\u201d Aglietti said in a statement following the satellite\u2019s deployment from the space station.<\/p>\n<p>The RemoveDebris satellite, built by SSTL in the United Kingdom, punches above its weight. The RemoveDebris mothership contains two CubeSats, a net and a harpoon, a laser ranging instrument, and a \u201cdragsail\u201d designed to unfurl behind the main satellite and hasten its fall back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere using aerodynamic resistance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have helped facilitate this ground-breaking mission,\u201d said Conor Brown, NanoRacks external payloads manager, in a statement. \u201cRemoveDebris is demonstrating some extremely exciting active debris removal technologies that could have a major impact to how we manage space debris moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis program is an excellent example of how small satellite capabilities have grown and how the space station can serve as a platform for missions of this scale. We\u2019re all excited to see the results of the experiments and impact this project may have in the coming years,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<p>Ground controllers at SSTL\u2019s campus in Guildford, England, will put the RemoveDebris spacecraft through four primary experiments.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7CEH9V9psKY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBasically, it has a net, a harpoon and a dragsail on-board,\u201d said Jason Forshaw, the RemoveDebris mission\u2019s former project manager at SSTL. \u201cThe concept is it\u2019s going to go up there, and it\u2019s going to eject small little satellites that will be used as artificial space junk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the CubeSats, about the size of a loaf of bread, will inflate a balloon to mimic the dimensions of a bigger piece of tumbling space junk. Flying a short distance away, RemoveDebris will release a net from a distance of around 23 feet (7 meters) to envelop the CubeSat \u2014 named DebrisSat 1 \u2014 which will be cut loose to re-enter the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe net, as a way to capture debris, is a very flexible option because even if the debris is spinning, or has got an irregular shape, to capture it with a net is relatively low-risk compared to \u2026 going with a robotic arm, because if the debris is spinning very fast, and you try to capture it with a robotic arm, then clearly there is a problem,\u201d Aglietti said. \u201cIn addition, if you are to capture the debris with a robotic arm or a gripper, you need somewhere you can grab hold of your piece of debris without breaking off just a chunk of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The net experiment is currently scheduled for September, according to Airbus Defense and Space, which developed the net at its facility in Bremen, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll have a CubeSat which is released, a large target being inflated, and then the net ejected and wrapping itself around the target, and bringing the whole lot home, all videoed by RemoveDebris,\u201d said Simon Fellows, project manager for the RemoveDebris mission.<\/p>\n<p>Another CubeSat, named DebrisSat 2, will separate from the RemoveDebris mothership in October to test out tracking and ranging lasers and algorithms. The RemoveDebris satellite will use DebrisSat 2 to test out close-up vision-based navigation technology needed for an orbiting garbage collector to approach an out-of-control piece of space junk.<\/p>\n<p>The LIDAR instrument \u201ccan observe debris, and figure out all the parameters of what this debris is doing in order to plan your capture,\u201d Aglietti said. \u201cWe have a normal camera, and then a LIDAR, which uses lasers to illuminate the object and figure out what the object is doing, and try to quantify the parameters, not just looking and seeing it, but also trying to see the spin rate, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The DebrisSat 2 craft will transmit its true position back to the RemoveDebris mothership, allowing engineers to evaluate the performance of the navigation cameras and laser systems provided by Airbus teams in Toulouse, France.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe vision-based navigation experiment will actually see debris and work out how it\u2019s moving, and how best to then deal with the debris,\u201d Fellows said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33097\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33097\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33097\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/removedebris_cubesat1-678x380.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/removedebris_cubesat1.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/removedebris_cubesat1-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of a CubeSat deploying from the RemoveDebris spacecraft. Credit: Surrey Space Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The third RemoveDebris experiment, set for next March, will test the functionality of a harpoon, which would be used to fire at a dead satellite and spear it, allowing the junk to be maneuvered out of orbit for a fiery re-entry.<\/p>\n<p>But RemoveDebris will not test the harpoon on an actual satellite. The technology is still untried in space, and there are legal concerns about using it to lasso someone else\u2019s spacecraft without permission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe it\u2019s a bit more risky because you have to hit your debris in a place that is suitable to be captured by the harpoon,\u201d Aglietti said. \u201cClearly, you have to avoid any fuel tanks \u2026 That would produce some undesired effects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, RemoveDebris will extend an arm with a target for the harpoon on the end, then fire the projectile on a tether at a velocity of around 45 mph, or 20 meters per second. The harpoon experiment is spearheaded by Airbus engineers based in Stevenage, England.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the main things we aim to learn from this is how things behave and move in zero gravity and and in a zero-air environment,\u201d Fellows said. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to test a tether with a harpoon on the ground, and the best way to really test it is in the space environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have harpoons, we have nets,\u201d Forshaw said in a TEDx talk last year. \u201cThese all seem like simple concepts, and they are. They\u2019ve been used for thousands of years underwater to capture things such as sea creatures. However, taking technologies that are mature on Earth, in the oceans, and actually bringing them up there into space and seeing (if) these concepts work for the first time \u2014 nobody has ever used a net or a harpoon for these purposes in space before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, RemoveDebris will open up an expandable sail to act like an airbrake or spoiler, generating drag from collisions with air molecules in the rarefied outer atmosphere. At the space station\u2019s altitude of around 250 miles (400 kilometers), the dragsail will bring the RemoveDebris satellite back into the denser layers of the atmosphere, where it will burn up.<\/p>\n<p>The braking mechanism will allow RemoveDebris to re-enter the atmosphere within about eight weeks of unfurling the dragsail, not the estimated two-and-a-half years it would take to de-orbit naturally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the elements of the mission should be de-orbited very quickly,\u201d Aglietti said. \u201cClearly, for a mission like ours, we don\u2019t to further contribute to the problem of space debris. We want to make sure that all the pieces we are putting up there are going to come down pretty quickly. For us, a launch from the International Space Station is particularly good because it\u2019s in such a low orbit, that in any case, even if some of the experiments do not work out as planned, it doesn\u2019t matter because everything is going to come down and burn up in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31322\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31322\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31322\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/removedebris_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/removedebris_1.jpg 675w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/removedebris_1-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31322\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s illustration of the RemoveDebris satellite de-orbiting at the end of its mission with the assistance of a dragsail. Credit: SSTL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Budgeted at 15.2 million euros \u2014 $17.7 million at today\u2019s currency exchange rates \u2014 the RemoveDebris mission was partially funded by the European Commission. The rest of the project was paid by the 10 companies involved in the demonstration, including SSTL, Airbus Defense and Space, and Ariane Group.<\/p>\n<p>Experts currently estimate nearly 7,000 tons of junk and debris are orbiting Earth, a mass equivalent to the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSSTL\u2019s expertise in designing and building low-cost, small satellite missions has been fundamental to the success of RemoveDebris, a landmark technology demonstrator for active debris removal missions that will begin a new era of space junk clearance in Earth\u2019s orbit,\u201d said Martin Sweeting, SSTL\u2019s executive chairman, in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>In-space collisions have happened before.<\/p>\n<p>In 2009, a commercial Iridium communications satellite collided with a deactivated Russian military craft, destroying both objects and creating thousands more pieces of space junk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSatellites that get old also have residual fuels on them,\u201d Forshaw said. \u201cSometimes these fuels mix, so satellites are remarkably good at exploding by themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the core questions is who is responsible for all of this,\u201d Forshaw said. \u201cWho is responsible for keeping space tidy? There, space law is complicated. Every single item in space, whether it be a full satellite or a piece of glass, is actually owned by somebody. You can\u2019t take away their property without their permission. Besides, if a tiny little fragment hit your satellite, you wouldn\u2019t even know who did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_33098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33098\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33098\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDsiVQAIwDVe-678x452.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDsiVQAIwDVe-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDsiVQAIwDVe-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDsiVQAIwDVe-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgjhDsiVQAIwDVe.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The RemoveDebris satellite shortly after separating from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA\/NanoRacks\/Ricky Arnold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As companies like OneWeb, SpaceX and others build out planned \u201cmega-constellations\u201d of hundreds and thousands of communications satellites, the space debris problem will remain top of mind for many in the industry.<\/p>\n<p>OneWeb and SpaceX say they will steer their planned broadband communications satellites back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere once their missions are complete, but some of the spacecraft could become stranded if they suffer unexpected failures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are really two solutions: Either we ensure things launched into space have the ability to come back down themselves, and\/or we launch missions up there to actually capture some of this space junk and bring it back down to Earth, where it will burn up in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere,\u201d Forshaw said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce the whole campaign is finished, and the (RemoveDebris) satellite is de-orbited, it would be great if companies offered this as a service, and there will be bigger missions when they will go and capture a real piece of debris using some of the technologies we have demonstrated,\u201d Aglietti said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gb1u9LGjTaM?start=21&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One company established to remove space debris out of orbit is Astroscale, headquartered in Singapore. Astroscale is developing a commercial space debris capture experiment in partnership with SSTL. After overseeing the design and construction of the RemoveDebris satellite, Forshaw joined Astroscale as manager of the company\u2019s European research and development efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The European Space Agency also has a mission concept called e.Deorbit, which would launch in 2024 to rendezvous with Envisat, a defunct Earth observation satellite that failed suddenly in 2012. Envisat is the size of a double-decker bus, and experts anticipate it will remain in space for up to 150 years, posing a hazard to other satellites in the same region of space nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The e.Deorbit mission, if approved by ESA member states, would bring Envisat down in a controlled manner. The RemoveDebris mission will check to see if some of the fundamental parts of such an endeavor will work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day, everything boils down to funding,\u201d Aglietti said. \u201cWe all agree, in the space sector, that it is a good idea to start to remove larger pieces of debris, which are the ones that cause the major threat. The problem is just financial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was why we\u2019re testing cost-effective technologies,\u201d he said. \u201cIn my opinion, the stumbling block is the cost \u2026 If the cost to do it is exorbitant, then people will prefer to take the risk that their new satellite is going to be hit by a piece of debris. If we manage to lower the cost of the missions, then this is much more likely to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT). The RemoveDebris satellite deployed from the International Space Station on June 20. Credit: NASA\/NanoRacks\/Ricky Arnold A small satellite assembled in Britain has been released from the International Space Station, commencing a standalone mission to test technology and techniques that could be used to capture and de-orbit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1657,2448,291,1395,2842,2800,717,1602],"class_list":["post-13726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-ariane-group","tag-commercial-space","tag-dragon","tag-drew-feustel","tag-expedition-56","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss-cargo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}