By 
September 20th, 2018
Credit: Surrey Space Centre (SSC)
A concept for space debris reduction has successfully been tested – in space!
RemoveDEBRIS, led by the Surrey Space Centre (SSC) at the University of Surrey, was launched into orbit in June from the International Space Station (ISS).
Credit: Surrey Space Centre (SSC)
The RemoveDEBRIS experiment will demonstrate a range of innovative technologies to clean up space debris.
RemoveDEBRIS net, pre-deploy photo.
Credit: Airbus
Net, harpoon, drag sail
The spacecraft features three Airbus technologies to perform Active Debris Removal (ADR): a net and a harpoon to capture debris, and also a Vision Based Navigation (VBN) system to develop rendezvous techniques in orbit with space debris.
Credit: Airbus
The spacecraft itself was designed and built by Airbus subsidiary Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and also includes a drag sail to speed up deorbiting of the whole mission.
The first video of the Net experiment successfully capturing a deployed cubesat can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=RvgctXXzIYA
Posted in Space News
