Clean Space One satellite

Swiss Space Center scientists at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) are planning to design and launch a new janitor satellite to clean up space debris by grabbing old satellites orbiting the earth that can damage satellites and manned space ships.

EPFL will launch an $11m CleanSpace One satellite as the first installment of a family of spacecraft which is expected to be launched in the next three to five years.

The satellite will initially try to retrieve two Swiss satellites, the Swisscube picosatellite and TIsat, which were launched into orbit in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

EPFL professor and astronaut Claude Nicollier said: "It has become essential to be aware of the existence of this debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation."

"To move beyond mere rhetoric and take immediate action to get this stuff out of orbit, the Swiss Space Center at EPFL is launching CleanSpace One, a project to build the first prototype in a family of "de-orbiting" satellites," Nicollier said.

Nearly 16,000 pieces of debris comprising abandoned satellites, spent rocket stages, bits of broken spacecraft, and fragments from collisions are and revolving around the planet, posing a threat of collision with other satellites.

The cleanup satellite will have three major challenges to overcome after its launch, with the first being the trajectory for which the satellite has to be able to adjust its path to match its target.

The second challenge will be to grab, hold and stabilise the debris at high speeds as well as to bring back debris into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Swiss Space Center director Volker Gass said: "We want to offer and sell a whole family of ready-made systems, designed as sustainably as possible, that are able to de-orbit several different kinds of satellites."

"Space agencies are increasingly finding it necessary to take into consideration and prepare for the elimination of the stuff they’re sending into space," Gass said.

 

Image: The CleanSpace One satellite will be launched in the next three to five years to clean up space debris by grabbing old satellites orbiting the earth. Photo: EPFL.