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The European Space Agency signed a mission first: to launch a “garbage truck” into space to help clear Earth’s orbit of dangerous debris.
Swiss start-up ClearSpace hopes to send a satellite-sized claw device to intercept a 100kg fragment of an old European Vega rocket, called the Vespa, left over from a 2013 launch.
The € 86 million recovery device, which will be launched into orbit in 2025, will mark the first cleanup mission on the planet. Hopefully, subsequent missions will then be able to capture more challenging pieces of debris.
ESA said it will provide “key competencies” and funding for the mission, while ClearSpace will cover the rest of the costs through commercial investors.
Danger of debris
The Vespa, which revolved in orbit at an altitude of between 660 and 800 kilometers, is among the roughly 20,000 pieces of tracked space junk that have put functioning satellites – including the International Space Station – at greatest risk of collision.
Traveling the planet at speeds in excess of 28,000 kilometers per hour, even small fragments of debris exert an extremely destructive force. With around 100 launches each year, the issue of space debris is becoming more and more urgent.
“There is a clear need for a ‘tow truck’ to remove failed satellites from this highly trafficked region,” ClearSpace CEO Luc Piguet said in a quote on ESA’s website.
After their galactic rendezvous, the plan is for both the Vespa and the ClearSpace-1 claw to burn when they reenter Earth’s atmosphere.
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