Space: a satellite to repair old satellites in orbit

This Wednesday morning, the innovation of the day takes us into space.

There are now satellite troubleshooters.

They will be able to extend the life of old satellites rather than leaving them abandoned in orbit.

A satellite does not work indefinitely.

After a while, it eventually ran out of fuel and turned into a wreck.

An extremely dangerous wreck since it spins at more than 20,000 km / h in space.

It has become a real problem.

The orbit being more and more crowded, we fear a catastrophic scenario with chain collisions, as in the film "Gravity".

Hence the idea of ​​going to refuel or repair old satellites, directly in orbit, to extend their lifespan.

And do these space convenience stores exist?

Yes.

The very first mission just passed, it was this Tuesday morning.

A fully robotic satellite garage came to dock with an old communication satellite.

It had been in service for 17 years and was almost out of fuel.

As at the time nothing had been planned to refuel, the two satellites will remain attached to each other.

And it is the thrusters of the new one which will take over from those of the old one to maintain its altitude and its orientation.

It will thus be able to remain in service for at least five additional years.

This opens up a lot of perspectives.

Sending a satellite is extremely expensive.

It is therefore also a way of reducing costs.

This means that eventually, we could imagine satellites with an almost unlimited lifespan.

Yes.

Because they will be repairable, modifiable, we can refuel indefinitely, rather than having disposable models like today.

This will avoid turning the space into a landfill.

Because we will end up having trouble carrying out new missions, if we have to slalom between the wrecks.