UK scientists arm satellites with nets and harpoons in hope of skewering Earth’s space garbage crisis
The RemoveDebris satellite was launched this week, carrying a number of different devices designed to clear the huge amount of junk orbiting the planet
A European satellite launched this week to try out ways of tackling the growing amount of garbage in space will use technology as familiar to the ancient Romans as astronauts – nets and harpoons.
Engineers who have designed and created harpoons for two pioneering space debris clearing projects said the appeal of such time-tested concepts was their simplicity.
“The irony is not lost on us,” said Alastair Wayman, an advanced projects engineer at Airbus Space in the southern English town of Stevenage.
“This is a really nice, simple piece of technology but what we’ve done is we’ve updated it for use in space and the beauty of this system is in its simplicity,” he said.
The RemoveDebris satellite is carrying a number of different devices designed to help clear the huge amount of debris orbiting the earth. It has already docked with the International Space Station and the tests are expected to begin in the next few weeks.