Centauri's Thoughts

Given last weeks satellite collision, the issue of space junk will be getting more attention.

This is a subject I've pondered for well over ten years. Given the relative velocities of the objects involved, we cannot just fly up to things and “grab” them, but perhaps we dont need to.

My idea is this: a large blob of aerogel (perhaps 100 meters or so), positioned where the debris can impact into it, plus an attachment of a motor to position it a little in its orbital altitude.

Once it has captured enough debris, the question becomes what to do with it next.

Since aerogel is a very good insulator, it wont burn up on re-entry, but given its density, perhaps it doesnt need to. It might lose all its forward velocity and fall harmlessly to earth at perhaps 35 – 65 MPH (15.6 – 29.1 m/s). That depends on how much its overall density has increased because of trapped debris.

The other option is to push it up and out to the “parking orbit” where many dead satellites get sent, but from low earth orbit, this would require much more fuel than a de-orbit.

Remember too, that this idea can be used for more than one capturing blob, and in more than one orbit/altitude to speed up the cleanup process.