Satellite to clean up space debris

Swiss scientists and engineers have announced a project, which will create ‘janitor’ satellites to clean up the ever increasing amount of space debris in orbit. The project is called CleanSpace One and it is due to launch in 3 to 4 years from now.

There are a few initial targets for CleanSpace One, either the Swisscube picosatellite, or its cousin TIsat, both 1,000 cubic centimeters (61 cubic inches) in size. When the janitor satellite reaches the space junk, it will extends its arm to grab the debris and then throw it to the earth atmosphere to burn up.

The project will be built at the Swiss Space Center, which is part of the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanne.

CleanSpace One is the first real attempt to tackle the problem of space junk which orbits at huge speeds of around 17,500 mph (28,000 kph). “Space agencies are increasingly finding it necessary to take into consideration and prepare for the elimination of the stuff they’re sending into space. We want to be the pioneers in this area,” Swiss Space Center Director Volker Gass said.

The likelyhood of damage to other satellites or space craft is ever increasing from space debris and CleanSpace One is a step forward to cheaply tackle this problem.  “It’s not a multimillion development, it’s a university based development”, said EPFL scientist Muriel Richard.