It involves Tokyo-based Orbital Lasers and Indian robotics company InspeCity. It would study opportunities for services such as de-orbiting a defunct satellite and extending a spacecraft’s life.
- Orbital Lasers is building a system that will use laser energy to stop the rotation of space junk by vaporising small parts of its surface, making it easier for a servicing spacecraft to make orbital maneuvers.
What is Space Debris?
- It is defined as all non-functional, artificial objects, including fragments and elements thereof, in Earth orbit or re-entering into Earth’s atmosphere.
- Out of 35,150 tracked objects in orbit, only about 25% are working satellites. (United Nations University)
Concerns related to Space Debris
- Threat to space exploration: Debris collisions can disable an operational spacecraft and damage components like optics and solar panels. E.g. collision with a 10-cm object would cause catastrophic fragmentation of a satellite.
- Kessler syndrome: Uncontrolled growth of debris can lead to self-sustained cascading collisions creating a chain of reactions.
- Risk to life on Earth: Large space debris that reenter the atmosphere in an uncontrolled way can create risks for the population on the ground.
Way Forward
- Successful Passivation of Spacecrafts limiting on-orbit breakups, Adoption of effective disposal strategies at the end of missions
Initiatives to tackle space debrisGlobal
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