Space Waste Cleaning “Big Step” Kawasaki Heavy Industries Oct. 4 17:28

So-called “space garbage”, including rockets that have been used. It continues to increase year by year and has become a major issue. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which is engaged in research and development to remove space debris, has opened a ground base station to issue commands to satellites that remove debris.

The danger of a collision with the International Space Station

According to the Cabinet Office, it is estimated that the number of space debris with a size of 10 centimeters or more confirmed by observations from the earth is approximately 20,000. I don't know the number.

Space garbage travels around the earth at a tremendous speed of 7 to 8 kilometers per second, and if it collides with an operating satellite or the International Space Station, serious damage may occur.

In fact, in 2009, a Russian satellite that was no longer in use collided with a US communications satellite in operation, and more than 3000 debris were scattered.

Because satellites are indispensable for daily life, such as weather observation and provision of location information, launches are expected to increase all over the world, and how to remove space debris will be a major issue It has become.

Opened a base station in Gifu Prefecture

Kawasaki Heavy Industries opened in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture, as a base station for issuing commands to artificial satellites. An antenna with a diameter of 3 meters and 70 centimeters is installed on the roof of the building.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries has been working on the development of a special artificial satellite that captures space waste, falls into the atmosphere as it is, and burns and removes waste.

Next year, the company plans to launch a small satellite for technical verification of space debris removal, and a model half the size of the satellite has also been released.

The actual size of the satellite is a cube of 60 cm square, and after launching it into outer space, we will confirm the technology to approach space garbage.

Demonstration experiments will be conducted over a year, and ultimately the aim is to commercialize space debris removal in FY2025.

How to remove it

The artificial satellite developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which captures and removes large space debris, covers the upper part of a used rocket in an orbit with an altitude of 1000 km or less.

When the launched satellite confirms the appearance of the rocket that became space waste, it approaches using the image sensor while estimating the distance and where it is easy to catch.

Then, move to a place where it is easy to catch, extend a metal arm to catch garbage and reduce the speed.

As a result, the satellites fall into the atmosphere with the earth's gravity and burn out together with space debris.

Small satellites are less expensive than conventional ones, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries aims to remove five large space debris by launching five satellites annually.

Nobuyuki Kubota, General Manager of Space System Design Department, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. “The establishment of a base station is a big first step. "

One after another

With regard to the removal of space debris, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) is also experimenting with a similar mechanism for practical use.

In addition, Astroscale, a Japanese venture company, has entered the market one after another, such as full-scale satellite development.