space
Trawl for scrap satellites – this is how China wants to collect space debris
More and more satellites have so far led to more and more garbage.
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More and more garbage is polluting the orbit. Chinese scientists have tried a cheap and easy way to get rid of him: the trawl.
Space junk is already a problem and it’s only getting bigger – more than 5000 satellites that have passed their active phase use the orbit as a junkyard for eternity. There are also small parts from destroyed missiles. The problem is well known, but the solution is difficult. In space, a polluter pays principle would be urgently needed, then every company and every state would have to take care of the disposal of its space waste. As of today, you can simply save yourself this time-consuming and expensive task. With the result that the near-Earth orbit is becoming more and more of a garbage dump.
trawl on board
The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology has now announced that Chinese scientists have tested a whole new method for collecting garbage in space. A Long March 2 rocket launched a sail into space. This sail unfolds to 25 square meters and it is woven from extremely thin fibers.
The procedure was tested on their own rocket. The net hangs on the output stage and will speed up its crash. Unlike fishing, the sail with the prey is not taken down. The idea is that the sail imperceptibly increases “air” drag. In this way, the stage or later a satellite is gradually slowed down, causing it to leave its stable orbit. Gradually it will sink into denser layers and burn up there.
Easy and cheap
Due to the low weight of the net and the purely mechanical effect, the process is a cheap method of sending new missiles into space with a built-in disposal system. Existing space debris is possible, but more expensive. To do this, the sails must be deployed on a parallel course to the junk satellite in order to then unfold in its vicinity. Compared to other methods of cleaning up space debris, nets are the simplest. US scientists want to use rotating magnets to collect the debris. Beijing is working on a giant laser that will bombard space debris from Earth. The downside of all disposal methods is that they can also be used as a weapon, knocking active satellites out of orbit.
Beijing has already publicly drawn a conclusion from the Ukraine war. Since the Starlin system’s satellites link Ukraine’s military, China must be able to render satellites such satellites harmless.
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