Russia creates new space junk recycling system

Moscow, March 28 (IANS) Russian Space Systems (RSS) has developed a recycling system capable of taking hold of decommissioned satellites in the Earth's orbit to grind and process them into fuel, the media reported.

The space debris disposal system, weighing about 2.5 tonnes, will be able to capture "decommissioned small satellites in low orbits (from 500 to 700 km)," Project Developer and RSS Research Engineer Marina Barkova told TASS new agency on Wednesday.

"The system consists of a trap that includes a net in the form of a cupola and a cone and a processing device. When a satellite gets into the trap, it undergoes the stage of its processing through a grinder and a special mill," she specified.

A satellite thus chopped inside the system will then be mixed with oxygen and hydrogen and turned into fuel.

This fuel will be used in the system's engines for manoeuvres and a fly over to the next satellite that has used up its service life. An onboard computer and the robotised devices of controlling the space chopper will get power from solar panels, Barkova explained.

Initially, the new "satellite hunter", which is estimated at about $117 million, is expected to be launched to an altitude of 400 km to do without a booster to save funds. However, its target orbit will be 800-1,500 km, she said.

According to NASA's data, there are over 2,200 active and more than 5,000 decommissioned satellites in orbit today as well as over 14,000 fragments of space debris. Overall, almost 20,000 objects have been registered in the Earth's orbit to date.

The recycling system will search for space junk "using the data of Russian and international catalogues of space objects," the report noted.

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