Orbit on the Low Earth regularly collects debris, everything from large undamaged satellites to used rocket parts and other smaller fragments. Needless to say, this is problematic enough.
Now, there is a new mission which involves clearing all that debris and is called the Astroscale End of Life Services (ELSA).
“ELSA-d consists of two spacecraft: a server satellite (~ 385 lb or 175 kg) and a messenger satellite (~ 37 lb or 17 kg), launched stacked together. The servicer satellite was developed to remove debris from orbit, equipped with nearby rendezvous technologies and magnetic docking equipment. The user’s satellite is a piece of replica debris equipped with a ferromagnetic plate that enables docking, “Astroscale writing on his website.
“The server again releases and docks with the client in a series of technical demonstrations, proving the ability to detect and dock with obsolete satellites and Demonstrations include messenger survey, messenger review, client rendezvous, and both non – immersion and docking immersion.
The ELSA-d mission is expected to pick up Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. If successful, it could turn out to be how we clear space debris.
Just like plastic in our oceans, space debris is becoming an ever-increasing problem. Space jets fly around at speeds of around 18,000 mph. This means it can damage other action spacecraft and pose safety hazards to astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
The ELSA-e mission lasts for approximately six months. Eventually, both service satellites and messengers will be directed to fire up in the Earth’s atmosphere leaving no waste.
Ideally, this is what the mission intends to do with all the space debris as well. Take it to a place in the atmosphere where it can be turned to ashes. This is especially important because the usable orbits where we keep our satellites are very narrow and cannot circulate debris.
Fortunately another company called Kurs orbital is also aiming to solve this problem. This company deploys a fleet of reusable servers, stationed in different orbits, that allow missions to remove space debris. Not bad!