TransAstra signed a contract with NASA for $850 thousand. to create a prototype bag for capturing space debris in orbit. The developer plans to go much further than collecting and burning garbage in the Earth’s atmosphere. Together with ThinkOrbital, he plans to create a factory complex in orbit to recover and recycle the collected garbage into something useful.
Actually, the space debris collection bag was invented by NASA. This was done as part of the Asteroid Redirect Mission program to deliver a near-Earth asteroid to the Moon’s orbit for study. NASA has developed two options for grippers: using a bag with inflatable stiffeners to give it a three-dimensional shape, and using rigid truss-type manipulators. TransAstra has taken on NASA funding to develop the idea of an inflatable bag into a ground-based demonstration prototype and, if all goes well, may take the project to space testing.
Small bags will help collect cubesats, while large ones will be able to capture a missile fragment weighing up to 50 thousand tons. т. Collecting space debris in bags will simplify the task of clearing the orbit of deadly junk. Capture in the bag does not require special orbit correction and precise maneuvers to approach the wreckage. All you need to do is move the neck of the bag like a net towards the garbage. Finally, the bag can be moved behind the debris collector until it is full, instead of the fuel-consuming task of releasing debris from orbit for each piece caught.
In collaboration with ThinkOrbital, the idea of collecting space debris in a bag has taken on new colors. ThinkOrbital dreams of building an on-site recycling plant in orbit. According to the company’s calculations, the storage and reuse of space equipment will reduce costs by six times compared to the transportation of individual objects to a low enough altitude to quickly return to the Earth’s atmosphere. In addition, reuse reduces fuel costs by 82% and reduces the time required to clean up debris by 40%.
The TransAstra Worker Bee is planned to be used to collect space debris in inflatable bags. “The Worker Bee will collect garbage and deliver it to the ThinkPlatform. The planned diameter of the platform will be 37 meters and the volume will be 4 thousand tons. м3. The platform’s equipment will diagnose, repair, or dispose of the collected waste.
“This research shows that we can and should creatively rethink the approach to debris removal,” said Lee Rosen, co-founder of ThinkOrbital and a retired US Air Force colonel. – “This is important not only for the development of space research and industrialization, but also for our national defense.
