'Giant Pac-Man' set to gobble up space junk: Kamikaze satellite will catch debris in a net and destroy it in the atmosphere

  • CleanSpace One satellite is designed to capture defunct SwissCube sat
  • Latest design reveals it will have a conical net to capture the small satellite
  • Both will then travel to the Earth's atmosphere where they will burn up 
  • Race is on to find a safe way to dispose of space junk orbiting Earth

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

Published: 12:23 EST, 6 July 2015 | Updated: 14:27 EST, 6 July 2015

From abandoned satellites to used rockets, space junk is hurtling high above the planet at speeds of around four miles a second.

But soon a ‘giant Pac-Man’ could gobble up these pieces of rubbish and destroy them before they damage working satellites and endanger astronauts.

Scientists working on the CleanSpace One Project have revealed their clean-up satellite will capture a defunct small SwissCube satellite in a conical net, before destroying it in the Earth’s atmosphere.

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Scientists working on the Clean Space One Project have revealed their clean-up satellite will capture a defunct small satellite called SwissCube in a conical net (illustrated) before destroying it in the Earth’s atmosphere

Scientists working on the Clean Space One Project have revealed their clean-up satellite will capture a defunct small satellite called SwissCube in a conical net (illustrated) before destroying it in the Earth’s atmosphere

It’s one of the solutions that could be used for eliminating dangerous debris orbiting the Earth.

Space junk comes in all shapes and sizes and is increasing at an alarming rate.

Debris can become a serious threat to devices and astronauts, so much so that Nasa carefully monitors any junk larger than four inches (10cm).

The SwissCube satellite has been in Earth orbit for more than five years and engineers from eSpace, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne’s Centre for Space Engineering and Signal Processing 5 Laboratory (LTS 5), and other university partners are keen for it not to become another piece of space junk.

Scientists have been designing a clean-up satellite for three years that will be sent into orbit to recuperate SwissCube (illustrated) which measures just four inches across (10cm)

Scientists have been designing a clean-up satellite for three years that will be sent into orbit to recuperate SwissCube (illustrated) which measures just four inches across (10cm)

The ‘Pac-Man’ satellite will trap the small satellite ‘ghost’ and the two will combust together in the atmosphere, but it’s a tough job. A screenshot of the iconic Pac-Man video game is pictured

The ‘Pac-Man’ satellite will trap the small satellite ‘ghost’ and the two will combust together in the atmosphere, but it’s a tough job. A screenshot of the iconic Pac-Man video game is pictured

WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? 

Since the first object, Sputnik One, was launched into space 53 years ago, mankind has created a swarm of perhaps tens of millions of items of debris.

The rubbish circling the planet comes from old rockets, abandoned satellites and missile shrapnel.

There are around 22,000 objects in orbit that are big enough for officials on the ground to track and countless more smaller ones that could do damage to human-carrying spaceships and valuable satellites.

It is estimated there are as many as 370,000 pieces of space junk floating in Earth's orbit, traveling at speeds of up to 22,000mph (34,500km/h).

One previously major source of debris was the testing of anti-satellite weapons carried out by the US and Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s.

Accidental events have also contributed to the problem. In February 2007 for instance, a Russian Briz-M booster stage exploded in orbit over South Australia.

More recently, the GOCE satellite, also known as the ‘Ferrari of space’, made a fiery fall to Earth sometime between the end of December 2013 and the start of November.

They have been designing a clean-up satellite for three years that will be sent into orbit to recuperate SwissCube, and have now revealed the latest design.

The ‘Pac-Man’ will trap the small satellite ‘ghost’ and the two will combust together in the atmosphere.

But while this sounds like a simple, if somewhat expensive, solution, it is fraught with complications.

‘SwissCube is not only a 4-inch by 4-inch (10cm by 10cm) object that's tough to grasp, it also has darker and lighter parts that reflect sunlight differently, Christophe Paccolat, a PhD student working in LTS5 explained.

‘These variations can perturb the visual approach system and thus also the estimates of its speed and distance.’

Muriel Richard-Noca, head of the CleanSpace One project, said the mission is a delicate one.

‘It only takes one error in the calculation of the approach for SwissCube to bounce off CleanSpace One and rocket out into space.’

To avoid this disaster, scientists are currently testing the visual approach algorithms on the clean-up satellite's cameras. 

To be accurate, they have to take into account a variety of parameters, such as the angle of illumination of the sun, the physical data of CubeSat, the relative speed at which it is moving as well all the uncertainties involved in this measurement, and the speed of its own rotation.

Students from the University of Applied Science in Geneva (Hes-so Hepia) helped to design the capture system, exploring options from articulated arms with claws, to a system of tentacles. 

They finally opted for the ‘Pac-Man’ solution. 

The mission is a delicate one where one error could cause the SwissCube satellite to bounce off CleanSpace One (both illustrated) and drift out into space, but the scientists have specifically designed a net design to increase their chances of capturing the small satellite

The mission is a delicate one where one error could cause the SwissCube satellite to bounce off CleanSpace One (both illustrated) and drift out into space, but the scientists have specifically designed a net design to increase their chances of capturing the small satellite

Space junk comes in all shapes and sizes and is increasing at an alarming rate. Debris can become a serious threat to devices and astronauts, so much so that Nasa carefully monitors any junk larger than four inches (10cm). This illustration shows there are as many as 370,000 pieces of space junk floating in Earth's orbit

Space junk comes in all shapes and sizes and is increasing at an alarming rate. Debris can become a serious threat to devices and astronauts, so much so that Nasa carefully monitors any junk larger than four inches (10cm). This illustration shows there are as many as 370,000 pieces of space junk floating in Earth's orbit

The prototype resembles a net in the form of a cone that unfolds and then closes back down once it has captured the small satellite.

Michel Lauria, Professor of Industrial Technology at Hepia said: ‘This system is more reliable and offers a larger margin for manoeuvring than a claw or an articulated hand.’

CleanSpace One could be launched as early as 2018.

The development of the approach and capture systems has passed the prototype stage and the next stage will involve testing the engineering models, which will be more accurate than the prototypes.

The prototype (illustrated) resembles a net in the form of a cone that unfolds and then closes back down once it has captured the small satellite. CleanSpace One could be launched as early as 2018

The prototype (illustrated) resembles a net in the form of a cone that unfolds and then closes back down once it has captured the small satellite. CleanSpace One could be launched as early as 2018

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