JAXA plans to clean up space debris with hi-tech net

[ChineseTiger1986]

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) has teamed up with Nitto Seimo Co., a Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture-based maker of fishing nets, to develop a hi-tech net to "catch" space junk orbiting the Earth.

There are tens of millions of space debris in space, from large spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to minute paint flakes and needles, posing threats to functioning satellites and space stations. JAXA plans to clean up some of these garbage by pulling them down to Earth where they will burn upon retry into the atmosphere.

Nitto Seimo is a 100-year old fishing net maker notable for inventing the world's first machine to make durable knotless fishing nets in 1925 and capturing half of the fishing net market in Japan. It hopes its expertise in catching fish will translate to catching space debris.

The two teams plan to launch a satellite carrying a long, thin metal net known as an elecrodynamic tether and attach the tether to a dead satellite (or other large space debris) using a robotic arm. Once the electrodynamic tether becomes charged with electricity while it orbits the Earth, it will create drag that will pull the dead satellite down to the atmosphere where it will burn up on re-entry.

Nitto Seimo started development of the net six years ago and have created a usable net after a series of failures. "Unlike fishing nets which are made of nylon, it is difficult to mesh nets made of hard metal," said Koji Ozaki of Nitto Seimo's technical division. "We've had unusable failures torn into shreds but we were finally able to make a usable tether."

No satellite launch is planned in the immediate future but it is expected the net will be ready for deployment in two years.

JAXA plans to clean up space debris with hi-tech net | Timog

 

[Tigershark]

This is the kind of space technology that deserves international funding and cooperation. I'd love to see the world's various space agencies work together to clean up space debris. That's more productive than the constant nattering and finger-pointing that goes on the western media any times China advances in space technology.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Yes, regardless which nation is going to do this, China should support it btw. This is for the sake of mankind.

 

[no_name]

They just have to make sure large satellites can burn up properly, and if not the places they will fall is important.