China has successfully tested a giant 'sail' that cleans up space junk by dragging it into our atmosphere
In space nothing can keep it clean, with the total mass of all objects in orbit said to be equivalent to about 9,900 tons.
To combat this, Chinese scientists have developed large sails, which they say can be used to change the orbits of dead rockets and satellites so that they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere and don’t become space junk.
The 269 sq ft (25 sq m) ‘de-orbiting sail’ works by slowly slowing its malfunctioning payload until it is moved out of orbit.
The debris would then burn up in Earth’s atmosphere within a few years – a process that could take more than a hundred years.
The display has been developed and successfully tested by Institute 805 of the Shanghai Academy of Spacecraft Technology (SAST) in China, according to the English-language China Global Times newspaper.
The news comes after the British Government announced last month that it wanted to start tackling the millions of debris in Earth orbit.
This includes organizing commercial satellite launches, rewarding companies that minimize their footprint in Earth orbit, and providing an additional £5 million for technology to clean up space debris.
The 269-square-foot screen is about one-tenth the thickness of a human hair
The sail is mounted on the payload capsule of the 300 kilogram Long March-2D Y64 carrier rocket, which was launched into space on June 23, 2022.
It was successfully deployed in space on June 26, according to systems engineers at SAST
The sail uses the drag created by the thin atmosphere to slow down a dead spacecraft, allowing it to leave its original orbit and move into Earth’s atmosphere.
The sail was tested by mounting it into the payload capsule of the 300 kilogram Long March-2D Y64 carrier rocket, which was launched into space on June 23, 2022.
The sail was successfully deployed in space three days later, according to the state-run Global Times, which spoke with SAST systems engineers on Tuesday.
It is less than a tenth of a hair’s diameter thick, meaning it can be attached to many spacecraft, the space agency claims.
According to SAST, this marks the first time in the world a de-orbiting screen system has been deployed in such a way.
The sails use the drag created by the thin atmosphere to slow down the dead spacecraft, allowing it to leave its original orbit and move into Earth’s atmosphere, where it burns up.
This could reduce the debris orbital time from more than a hundred years to less than ten – although in this case it would only take two years.
An estimated 13,100 satellites have been launched into orbit since 1957, according to the European Space Agency, with 8,410 remaining in space and 5,800 still functioning.
The total mass of all objects in orbit is said to be equivalent to about 9,900 tons, while statistical models show there are 130 million pieces of debris ranging in size from 1mm to 1cm.
This can pose a threat to active spacecraft, for example, in 2009 a functioning US communications satellite, Iridium-33, collided with a malfunctioning Russian satellite, Cosmos-2251, as both passed through extreme northern Siberia.
This single impact generated more than 2,300 debris shards, and knocked out Iridium 33.
A computer-generated image of the object in Earth’s orbit currently being tracked. About 95 percent of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, that is, not working satellites. The dots represent the current location of each item
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink satellite is responsible for more than half of the close encounters in orbit, even with just 1,500 of the 12,000 planned to launch so far, data shows.
Satellite operators like SpaceX are constantly being forced to make adjustments to avoid encountering other spacecraft and pieces of debris.
With hundreds of Starlink satellites in orbit, the number of dangerous approaches will continue to grow, according to a study by the University of Southampton.
The researchers found that the Starlink satellites engage in an average of 1,600 close encounters with other spacecraft each week, including some where two objects are within about half a mile of each other, according to a Space.com report.
If two spacecraft fall in orbit then they will produce a cloud of debris which in turn will threaten other satellites operating in the same space region.
Last month, the British government announced a series of new measures designed to promote sustainability in space and help clean up the millions of debris clogging near-Earth orbit.
Such measures include the ‘Active Debris Removal’ programme, which involves launching new spacecraft to physically collect and destroy bits of space debris floating around Earth.
The project, which will receive £5 million in funding from the UK government, will launch in 2026.
They also plan to organize commercial satellite launches and reward companies that minimize their footprint in Earth orbit.
Britain also wants to launch a spacecraft capable of capturing two dead satellites and forcing them back into Earth’s atmosphere where they burn up.
If successful, the first feat of its kind would prove that a single spacecraft can remove more than one piece of debris.
The spacecraft could also potentially remain in orbit around Earth, and be refueled so it can handle more trash.
Britain wants to launch a spacecraft that can stay in orbit and remove a lot of debris, forcing them to burn up in Earth’s upper atmosphere, as depicted in the graphic above.
WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170 MILLION OFF SATELLITE CHIPS, REMOVED ROCKETS AND PAINT FLAKES ARE A ‘THREAT’ TO THE SPACE INDUSTRY
It is estimated that there are 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’ – left behind after a mission that can be as big as a spent rocket stage or as small as a flake of paint – in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555 billion) of space infrastructure. .
But only 27,000 have been tracked, and with the fragments capable of traveling at over 16,777 mph (27,000 km/h), even tiny bits could seriously damage or destroy a satellite.
However, traditional gripping methods don’t work in space, because suction cups don’t work in a vacuum and temperatures are too cold for substances like tape and glue.
Grippers based around magnets are useless because most of the debris in orbit around Earth is not magnetic.
About 500,000 pieces of man-made debris (artist impressions) currently orbit our planet, consisting of used satellites, spacecraft fragments, and used rockets.
Most of the proposed solutions, including debris harpoons, require or cause strong interactions with debris, which can push objects in unwanted and unpredictable directions.
Scientists point to two events that exacerbated the space debris problem.
The first was in February 2009, when the telecommunications satellite Iridium and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.
The second was in January 2007, when China tested anti-satellite weapons on the Fengyun weather satellite.
Experts also point to two sites that have become very messy.
One is the low-Earth orbit used by satnav satellites, the ISS, the Chinese manned mission and the Hubble telescope, among others.
Others are in geostationary orbit, and are used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth.
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