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Space pirates!
The business of cleaning up the trail of space junk left by more than 60 years of space exploration has long baffled scientists.
Now British space experts think they may have the answer – a space harpoon.
Next week, at a European Space Agency conference in Darmstadt, Germany, experts from across the globe will discuss the state of our skies and the growing threat posed by space debris.
British space experts think they may have the answer to clearing up the trail of space junk – a space harpoon. A ‘chase’ satellite would be fitted with five or more harpoons which can fire at a moving target
Using laser and radar guidance systems, a piece of space junk would be targeted, and then captured with a gas-propelled harpoon on a tether
Once the space junk is secured, a smaller sub-satellite detaches from the chase satellite and pulls the junk downwards to burn up as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere
