TransAstra has won a NASA contract to develop a system to recover space debris. The idea chosen is basically simple, but it was necessary to have it.
Space is a trash can. The formula may seem exaggerated, but with the thousands of satellites in orbit around the Earth, including more than half no longer work according to a 2020 study, the existence of a large amount of debris is undeniable. And that’s not counting the rocket tips where the pieces of asteroids spinning aimlessly in the vacuum of space. Cleaning it all up is a necessity. NASA has therefore launched a call for projects to develop a debris recovery system. The society TransAstra won the contract with a simple concept, but in theory very effective.
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When you want to get rid of a waste, what do you do? You throw it in the trash. Here it is the same: TransAstra will create space trash bags to lock up debris. The capsule will take more or less the shape of a sphere, and its opening/closing will be ensured by struts, a kind of shock absorber. The objective is to collect several waste at the same time to maximize the profitability of the capsule, which will be built in different sizes.
NASA wants to use trash bags to collect space debris
The advantages of such a system are numerous for Joel Sercel, founder and CEO of TransAstra: “It is not necessary that the target has something you can hold on to. It does not require docking, which is a precision maneuver. You have to be precise enough to open the bag, pass it around [du débris] and close the bag”. Some adjustments will be necessary depending on the case. For example, if the target turns on itself, the capsule will have to lock on the rotation.
The objective is then todeliver the filled bag to an in-orbit processing station. TransAstra plans to partner with ThinkOrbital. The company would manufacture a platform 37 meters in diameter and 4000 m³ of volume. equipped withtools to analyze, repair or recycle the debris, the idea is tosave fuel avoiding having to get rid of waste on Earth, and especially reuse as many components as possible.
According to a study conducted by TransAstra and ThinkOrbital, it would cost 6 times cheaper than to approach the Earth’s atmosphere so that the debris is collected on the ground. Fuel saving would be 82%while reducing 40% less time for waste disposal. First, TransAstra will build a prototype that will be tested on the ground to demonstrate its effectiveness. Maybe one day a trash bag will retrieve an object with your name on it from outer space?
Source: Space News