Sat, Jul 09, 2022 page5

• Japanese firms target space junk with laser beams

  REELING ’EM IN: One firm has tested a system that uses a magnet to collect out-of-service satellites and tow them away, to prevent a possible collision with debris

  • AFP, Tokyo
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  From laser beams and wooden satellites to galactic tow-truck services, start-ups in Japan are trying to imagine ways to deal with a growing environmental problem: space debris.

  Junk such as used satellites, rocket parts and wreckage from collisions has been piling up since the space age began, with the problem accelerating in the past few decades.

  “We’re entering an era when many satellites will be launched one after another. Space will become more and more crowded,” said Miki Ito, general manager at Astroscale, a company dedicated to “space sustainability.”

  

  Miki Ito, general manager at Astroscale, speaks about a project to collect out-of-service satellites during an interview in Tokyo on April 27.

  Photo: AFP

  “There are simulations suggesting space won’t be usable if we go on like this,” she said. “So we must improve the celestial environment before it’s too late.”

  The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that about 1 million pieces of debris larger than a centimeter — big enough to “disable a spacecraft” — are in Earth’s orbit.

  They are already causing problems, from a near-miss in January involving a Chinese satellite, to a 5mm hole knocked into a robotic arm on the International Space Station last year.

  “It’s hard to predict exactly how fast the amount of space debris will increase,” said Toru Yamamoto, a senior researcher at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

  “It’s an issue that raises real concerns about the sustainable use of space,” he said.

  With satellites now crucial for GPS, broadband and banking data, collisions pose significant risks on Earth.

  Tadanori Fukushima said he has seen the scale of the problem in his job as an engineer with Tokyo-based satellite operator and broadcaster SKY Perfect JSAT.

  “A stationary satellite would get roughly 100 ‘debris-approaching’ alerts a year,” he said.

  International “satellite disposal guidelines” include rules like moving used satellites to “graveyard orbit” — but the increase in debris means more is needed, specialists say.

  Fukushima launched an in-house start-up in 2018 and envisions using a laser beam to vaporize the surface of space debris, creating a pulse of energy that pushes the object into a new orbit.

  The irradiating laser means there is no need to touch any debris, which is generally said to move about 7.5km per second — much faster than a bullet.

  For now, the project is experimental, but Fukushima hopes to test the idea in space by spring 2025, working with several research institutions.

  Japanese firms, along with some in Europe and the US, are leading the way on developing solutions, Fukushima said.

  Some projects are further along, including Astroscale’s space “tow truck,” which uses a magnet to collect out-of-service satellites.

  “If a car breaks down, you call a tow-truck service. If a satellite breaks down and stays there, it faces the risk of collision with debris and needs to be collected quickly,” Ito said.

  The firm carried out a successful trial last year and hopes to eventually equip customer satellites with a “docking plate” equivalent to a tow-truck’s hook, allowing collection later on.

  Astroscale, which has a contract with the ESA, plans a second test by the end of 2024 and hopes to launch its service soon after.

  Other efforts approach the problem at the source, by creating satellites that do not produce debris.

  Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry envisage a wooden satellite that goes into orbit in a rocket and burns up safely when it plunges to Earth.

  That project is also in its infancy — in March, pieces of wood were sent to the International Space Station to test how they respond to cosmic rays.

  Space agencies have their own programs, with JAXA focusing on large debris greater than three tonnes.

  Internationally, firms including US-based Orbit Fab and Australia’s Neumann Space have proposed ideas such as in-orbit refueling to extend the life of satellites.

  The problem is complex enough that a range of solutions will be needed, Yamamoto said.

  “There is no panacea,” he said.
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