(Image I)"Illustration of Clearspace-1, a planned active debris removal mission". Credit: Clearspace SA "(Image: ScitechDaily)
The planned "Clearspace 1" is one of the first orbital cleaners. It's an AI-driven satellite, that removes space junk. The satellite recognizes the target automatically and then touches it and puts it in the box, which takes the junk back on Earth. That thing allows researching how the components of satellites can resist cosmic radiation. And that kind of data can help to create better materials and solutions for the satellites.
The UK space agency has been funded that project with £1 million. That means there is a requirement for that kind of artificial intelligence-driven system that collects the junk from orbiters.
The orbital trajectories require cleaning. There are thousands or even millions of pieces of satellites, their parts, rocket stages, and everything else in space. And there is always danger that space junk is hitting the operating satellites. There are also nuclear reactors and other kinds of systems that can cause dangerous situations if they are dropping on Earth.
Those nuclear reactors contain highly enriched plutonium, and that makes them extremely dangerous. The small-size nuclear reactors are delivering electricity for the satellites that are using high-power radars or active sensors. Those reactors need to have a compact size and give very much power. So the nuclear fuel of those reactors needs the same enrichment level as plutonium used in nuclear weapons.
Clearspace 1 has got its innovation from viruses. The system has multiple manipulator arms. That it uses for touching the satellites. This system can also have laser or microwave systems that can help to crush the satellite to the garbage can.
Space junk is dangerous for satellites. And there is no endless space in the trajectories. The junk removal system is thin, that collets the satellites which mission is over and which are turning silent. The thing is that the "Clearspace 1" can assist the satellites in situations that their protective core is not opening as it should. And it can fix broken satellites if it has the right manipulators for that mission. So the same system can have many missions.
Another reason, why space junk wanted to collect is national security. The highly classified parts of the recon and other military satellites are not wanted to get into the outsider's hands.
Another reason why space operators want to remove space junk. Is that some broken satellites are containing highly classified information. Those satellites are used for recon and other military missions like satellite communication between troops and headquarters. So they are containing data that should not deliver anywhere.
And that kind of satellite wanted to recover to Earth for investigations. One thing that the search team wants to find out. Are there marks for weapon use against that kind of target? Or is something tried to touch that satellite? Is there is some kind of damages that is causing by some kind of weapons?
()https://scitechdaily.com/what-goes-up-must-come-down-helping-clean-up-space-junk-with-first-of-its-kind-mission-optimizer/
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