Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NASA

The International Space Station will be the on-orbit test site for a Capture Bag system to snag space debris.

Aerospace startup TransAstra Corporation has developed the system, capable of trapping objects of different shapes and sizes, even debris that is tumbling.

For the ISS investigation, the Capture Bag will be inflated inside Voyager Technologies’ Bishop Airlock on the orbiting outpost. The airlock provides isolation from the atmosphere of the ISS cabin and can be depressurized to mimic conditions in space.

Credit: The Aerospace Corporation/CORDS

Variety of sizes

The team will observe the bag’s deployment using four cameras in Bishop Airlock and one inside the Capture Bag system.

Capture Bag comes in a variety of sizes, from as small as a coffee mug to big enough to capture a 10,000-ton asteroid the size of a small building. Additionally, the technology is much simpler to control than a robotic arm and less expensive.

“We’ve tested Capture Bag extensively in vacuum conditions on the ground but deploying it in microgravity is the only way to be sure that we understand how this works,” said TransAstra CEO Joel Sercel.