UK scientists develop SPACE HARPOON to protect against hazardous material orbiting planet

The spacecraft features a 1.5 metre boom from which a piece of satellite panel was dangled, simulating junk. The harpoon – which was designed in Stevenage at the base of Airbus Space and Defence – was fired at 20 metres a second, penetrating the target and demonstrating the ability of a harpoon to capture debris in the process. The trial is the third successful experiment involving the project.

RemoveDEBRIS previously used its on-board net to capture another piece of debris, and then used its state-of-the-art LiDAR and camera based vision navigation system to identify space junk.

Now the team is getting ready for their final experience, scheduled for next month, which will see the satellite inflate a sail which will drag the satellite into Earth’s atmosphere, destroying it in the process.

Professor Guglielmo Aglietti, Director of the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, which coordinated the project, said: “This is RemoveDEBRIS’ most demanding experiment and the fact that it was a success is testament to all involved.”

The project offered strong evidence of what could be achieved with the power of collaboration, he added.

Chris Burgess, Harpoon Lead Engineer at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “Successful in space demonstration of the harpoon technology is a significant step towards solving the growing issue of space debris.”

Chris Skidmore MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, said: “Space debris can have serious consequences for our communications systems if it smashes into satellites.

“This inspiring project shows that UK experts are coming up with answers for this potential problem using a harpoon, a tool people have used throughout history.

“This mission is a powerful example of the UK’s expertise in space technology and that by working together our world-class universities and innovative companies can hugely contribute to the government’s aims for a highly skilled economy through our modern Industrial Strategy.”

RemoveDEBRIS has been designed, built and manufactured by a consortium of leading space companies and research institutions from Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and South Africa.

The spacecraft is operated in orbit by engineers at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in Guildford, UK, with the project is co-funded by the European Union.

The US Space Surveillance Network tracks 40,000 objects and estimates there are more than 7,600 tonnes of ‘space junk’ in and around Earth’s orbit.

Some are travelling at speeds approaching 30,000 miles per hour – faster than a speeding bullet, and pose a potential risk to other satellites which the world relies on for telecommunications and other technologies.

Scientists estimate satellites crash back to Earth at a rate of one a week.

The Chinese experimental space station Tiangong-1 fell to Earth on April 1 last year, with most of it burning up over the southern Pacific Ocean.

Nevertheless, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told the Space.com website: “There are a few large things up there in low orbit that you want to keep an eye on.”

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket which delivered a remote sensing satellite into space in April 2012 looks like being the next large object to crash back down to Earth.

The issue of dangerous space debris was highlighted during the 2012 Oscar-winning movie Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

In it, their spacecraft is damaged by debris, and Sandra Bullock’s character has to find a way to return to Earth.

source: express.co.uk