ClearSpace logo / EPFL - Space Center - eSpace logo.
Nov. 29, 2019
ClearSpace, a Swiss start-up, spin-off of the EPFL Space Center (eSpace), wants to clean up nearby Space (Low Earth Orbit), which is starting to be seriously cluttered with old, broken satellites and debris of all kinds.
The CleanSpace One Project. The space cleanup satellite will deploy a conical net to capture the small SwissCube satellite before destroying it in the atmosphere. It’s one of the solutions being tested for eliminating dangerous debris orbiting the Earth.
CleanSpace One: A giant Pac-Man to gobble up space debris
European Space Agency tapped ClearSpace to retrieve a rocket component, the company was focused on the CleanSpace-1 mission, shown here. Engineers were developing technology to capture a Swiss cubesat launched in 2009.
After an extensive review process, ESA selected ClearSpace from a field of about a dozen competitors including European aerospace prime contractors who went head-to-head with ClearSpace in the final round of the competition.
Swiss Cube
ClearSpace is a Spin-Off from the EPFL Space Center. The company founded by Luc Piguet, Muriel Richard & Catherine Johnson was born to host the design team for the CleanSpace One mission, out of the realization that the cost-effective in space removals is a critical building block of the future of space operations. The ClearSpace team unified around the CleanSpace One mission is focused on building a viable and affordable solution to remove failed satellites left in space and ensure the long-term sustainability of space operations... Cost-effective service to remove failed satellites and debris from space.
CleanSpace One is a pioneering mission to demonstrate the removal of a satellite in space. The CleanSpace One chaser will remove the first, the SwissCube.
What happens when satellites fail?
Satellites may fail during their operational life, causing ground communication with them to be degraded or severed entirely.
A lost satellite continues to orbit aimlessly in space and presents a risk of collision for other objects. Failures most often occur during the first few months a satellite is in space.
Why do we need space recycling right now?
Today, satellites are not built to be reused or recycled in space. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), it is estimated that there are more 8,100 metric tonnes of known man-made objects in space. The cost of launching a 1 kg object into space can vary between USD 3,000 and USD 50,000.
Despite the fact that the costs of launch are decreasing, it is becomingly increasingly logical and necessary to reuse or recycle structures or satellites in space. Our mission is one of the stepping stones necessary to pave the way for such services as in space re-use and recycling.
How do we proceed to capture orbital debris?
SwissCube is a non-cooperative satellite, meaning that it has been designed with no intention of retrieval once in orbit. It does not have a GPS or any sensor on board to facilitate either an approach or capture, and is likely to be tumbling out of control.
To illustrate this, imagine a cooperative rendez-vous in space being akin to two train wagons drawing closer to one another on invisible rails and seamlessly connecting; whereas a non-cooperative rendez-vous is akin to trying to catch a car that is tumbling across the motorway. The selection of the capture mechanism and the sensors for this operation required years of research and multiple iterations.
What is our solution to remove those debris?
Once captured, SwissCube will be secured close to the chaser’s body in order to ensure an effective and controlled re-entry of the entire system – the chaser and the target.
In a controlled re-entry, the area of the chaser and the target’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere is precisely chosen in order to eliminate any risk to human life or air traffic. The satellites decompose in the upper atmosphere due to heat generated as they re-enter the earth atmosphere at orbital speeds.
As they decompose, several break-up pieces follow their own trajectory, making a relatively long footprint. CleanSpace One is a microsatellite of relatively small size (like a small washing machine), and thus all of its break-up pieces will be burnt before touching the ground.
Related link & articles:
ClearSpace: https://clearspace.today/
EPFL Swiss Space Center: http://space.epfl.ch/
ESA Clean Space Progamme: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space
https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Clean_Space
ClearSpace, a public interest undertaking for our cognosphere
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/clearspace-a-public-interest-undertaking-for-our-c/
Cleaning up Earth's orbit: A Swiss satellite tackles space debris
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2012/02/cleaning-up-earths-orbit-swiss.html
Images, Video, Text, Credits: CleanSpace/Kerbal Space Program/ESA/ID&Sense/ONiRiXEL/EPFL/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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