British scientists have become the first to create a “space grabber” to rescue old satellites out of orbit. The gizmo is bringing them back to Earth safely or burning them up on entry and cleaning up the cluttered skies.
UK satellite removal targets
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) aims to remove an ageing UK satellite in space by 2030, and another two years later. If successful, the UK would become the first country to tidy up the “junkyard” in the cosmos.
ClearSpace UK, the British arm of a Swiss company, has been building a “chaser” craft to catch satellites as they travel at more than 17,000mph.
Risks of space debris
Davide Amato, an associate professor of computational astrodynamics at Imperial College London, said: “Space is massively important for today’s economy. The problem with space debris is the risk it poses to these assets.”
“Something only a couple of inches [long] has enough energy to disable a satellite.”
Growing threat in orbit
Experts warn millions of fragments including millimetre-long scraps and entire rocket boosters are floating around in orbit. The Government hopes its £60m cash injection will boost the British space economy and urge other nations to make low Earth orbit (LEO) safer.
It comes after Nasa described LEO as a “space junkyard”. Mr Amato added: “The worst-case scenario is that some orbits currently in very heavy use could become effectively unusable in future. If it’s a cloud of small debris, then it’s like flying through a cloud of bullets.”
In 2009, a collision between communications satellites created almost 2,000 pieces of debris. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is already forced to make evasive moves once a year to avoid space junk. In 2024, astronauts were told to shelter in an attached spacecraft as they zoomed past a crumbling satellite.
