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posted by martyb on Friday June 22 2018, @01:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the gonna-need-a-bigger-net dept.

Astronauts eject UK-led space junk demo mission

A UK-led project to showcase methods to tackle space junk has just been pushed out of the International Space Station.

The RemoveDebris satellite was ejected a short while ago with the help of a robotic arm.

The 100kg craft, built in Guildford, has a net and a harpoon.

These are just two of the multiple ideas currently being considered to snare rogue hardware, some 7,500 tonnes of which is now said to be circling the planet.

Previously: SpaceX Launches CRS-14 Resupply Mission to the ISS


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Friday June 22 2018, @04:43PM

    by tftp (806) on Friday June 22 2018, @04:43PM (#696819) Homepage
    Today you'd have to launch a spaceship to match the orbit of each piece of junk and come close to it. In other words, it's a docking approach. Yes, it would be very expensive. You need something like flying saucer to catch the junk safely and without too much effort, accelerating and stopping on a dime.
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