Swiss Develop Satellite to Dispose of Space Junk

Donald Kessler's vision was a rather ominous one. Twenty years ago, the NASA consultant envisioned a scenario in which space junk blocked humans from traveling in space. The risk of colliding with such heavenly detritus, he argued, would one day make it too dangerous for astronauts. He warned that the number of hazardous objects could multiply by breaking apart, hopelessly trapping mankind on Earth.

Tens of thousands of little pieces of space junk are already orbiting the planet. But now a project from a nation known for orderliness and cleanliness aims to prevent Kessler's nightmare scenario from becoming reality. On Wednesday, researchers at the Swiss Space Center, based at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), presented their plans for "CleanSpace One." They envisage a launch of their clean-up mission within the next three to five years, with the aim of taking out a recently-discarded satellite. If it proves successful, further space cleanup jobs could follow.
The Deadly Dance of Satellites

The EPFL researchers intend to test their technology on one of the country's flagship projects in space. "We have our eyes set on a clear target," Swiss Space Center head Volker Gass told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "We initially want to start with one of the two satellites that Swiss universities launched in 2009 and 2010."

The two mini orbiters known as "Swiss Cube 1" and "TISat 1," which are cubes with 10-centimeter (four-inch) sides, belong to the class of so-called picosatellites. Universities like to use these low-cost flying devices to give their students real-world experience in using satellites. For example, universities in Würzburg, Aachen and Berlin have their respective satellites "Uwe," "Compass" and "BeeSat" orbiting the planet at distances between 600 and 700 kilometers (370-430 miles).

But, at a certain point, these satellites either die or outlive their usefulness. Of course, they could just be left alone in their eternal orbits. But not everyone thinks that's the correct choice. "Universities across the world have to clean up their junk, too," Gass says. And "CleanSpace One," he says, should help them do it.


http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,815698,00.html