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Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

independent.co.uk

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Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#31

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

decremental wrote: post #13
silent_cal wrote: post #10

This space stuff is such a waste. There is enough garbage on the surface of the earth to worry about. Just nerd grifting IMO.

The issue with space debris is that on our current trajectory, at some point in the future, there will be so much debris traveling so fast that future space exploration will be impossible because we'll never get anything off the planet. Not to mention we won't be able to have satellites. Possibly a nerd grift but the issue is important.

> The issue with space debris is that on our current trajectory, at some point in the future, there will be so much debris traveling so fast that future space exploration will be impossible

The issue is keeping things in orbit not space exploration. Realistically going through is never going to be a problem. The worst that might happen is that you need some monitoring and manoeuverability on-board of your spacecraft but it's not insurmountable. Even near Earth, space is that big.

Staying there with a lot of debris flying around really fast that could become impossible.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#32

Post by iamnotwhoiam »

SonicScrub wrote: post #14

I'm very skeptical of the technical challenges associated with this problem (business model and financing aside). The amount of delta-v required to perform maneuvers to repeatedly "dock" with different pieces of space junk, and then again to de-orbit is very high. You MIGHT be able to de-orbit on the order of magnitude of ~10 pieces of low-earth orbit debris per mission. Maybe. If you're really good. And low-earth or…

My understanding of the issue is that the biggest problems are a few well known defunct satellites in mid altitude orbit. We have no control over them so if two collide we are in big trouble. That almost happened last year. I think someone can make a big difference by targeting those first.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#33

Post by SonicScrub »

dncornholio wrote: post #30
SonicScrub wrote: post #14

I'm very skeptical of the technical challenges associated with this problem (business model and financing aside). The amount of delta-v required to perform maneuvers to repeatedly "dock" with different pieces of space junk, and then again to de-orbit is very high. You MIGHT be able to de-orbit on the order of magnitude of ~10 pieces of low-earth orbit debris per mission. Maybe. If you're really good. And low-earth or…

3) Every space agency funds the space dedebree-ing because they will be able to send up more to space again.

My analysis assumed funding would occur. Pathways 1) and 2) are on the table regardless of the funding. Easy access to funding does not in anyway preclude options 1 and 2

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#34

Post by SonicScrub »

shantara wrote: post #23
SonicScrub wrote: post #14

I'm very skeptical of the technical challenges associated with this problem (business model and financing aside). The amount of delta-v required to perform maneuvers to repeatedly "dock" with different pieces of space junk, and then again to de-orbit is very high. You MIGHT be able to de-orbit on the order of magnitude of ~10 pieces of low-earth orbit debris per mission. Maybe. If you're really good. And low-earth or…

The most realistic solution for space junk deorbiting I've seen is the recently tested electromagnetic tether ("Terminator tape"). It is a passive solution that does not require an external spacecraft, and could be activated by a satellite operator when a satellite reaches the end of its lifespan. Perhaps, such system should be made mandatory, maybe even going as far as adding a dead man switch for its automatic acti…

This would work great for defunct satellites, but does nothing to solve the bigger space-junk danger: random bits and pieces of things from stage separations and previous collisions that are difficult to track. Definitely a step in the right direction, but it won't solve the largest threat.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#35

Post by everyone »

shantara wrote: post #23
SonicScrub wrote: post #14

I'm very skeptical of the technical challenges associated with this problem (business model and financing aside). The amount of delta-v required to perform maneuvers to repeatedly "dock" with different pieces of space junk, and then again to de-orbit is very high. You MIGHT be able to de-orbit on the order of magnitude of ~10 pieces of low-earth orbit debris per mission. Maybe. If you're really good. And low-earth or…

The most realistic solution for space junk deorbiting I've seen is the recently tested electromagnetic tether ("Terminator tape"). It is a passive solution that does not require an external spacecraft, and could be activated by a satellite operator when a satellite reaches the end of its lifespan. Perhaps, such system should be made mandatory, maybe even going as far as adding a dead man switch for its automatic acti…

This is the most promising idea I've heard of...

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/niac...

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#36

Post by microtherion »

TheDudeMan wrote: post #19
SonicScrub wrote: post #14

I'm very skeptical of the technical challenges associated with this problem (business model and financing aside). The amount of delta-v required to perform maneuvers to repeatedly "dock" with different pieces of space junk, and then again to de-orbit is very high. You MIGHT be able to de-orbit on the order of magnitude of ~10 pieces of low-earth orbit debris per mission. Maybe. If you're really good. And low-earth or…

Highly plausible analysis. Hopefully Woz is above the PR stunts and has a real plan for addressing the future problem (it's not really a problem yet, but it will be).

Woz the last 40 years has launched one PR stunt after the other (although, to be fair, I believe he has also done a fair amount of good things quietly in the background in the same time).

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#38

Post by SonicScrub »

cletus wrote: post #18

So here's a potential business model for this: salvage rights. When ships sink, the owner generally still retains ownership of any property. Sometimes the location of the wreck is known. Sometimes it needs to be found. It can cost a lot of money to find a wreck and recover any property. So salvage rights are a principle of maritime law such that whoever does this is entitled to a reward commensurate with the value of…

This could work, but would limit effectiveness to the orbits that MUST be very specific to work. For most satellites this doesn't matter. If 500 km is clogged, you design your mission to work at 505 km. I could see something like this working for geostationary orbits and sun-synchronous orbits as they require specific altitudes and inclinations, but not for much else.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#39

Post by vasco »

At some point I guess the world will have to regulate orbits similarly to how we regulate the electromagnetic spectrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_auction

Once you're assigned an orbit space I would assume it'd be your duty to keep it "clean" and as such owners of orbits would need to either do their own cleanup or contract companies like this.

That being said it feels like a company like this is 50 to 100 years too early, but what do I know.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#40

Post by ttymck »

SonicScrub wrote: post #26
aero-glide2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should lobby for a law requiring companies to deorbit satellites after EOL.

Requiring de-orbiting at EOL would destroy their business no? Also EOL de-orbiting works great for low-altitude orbits, but becomes exponentially more difficult with higher orbits. It is pretty much impossible with the very valuable geostationary orbital slots.

If you require the company to perform a service, one that they may not want to perform or be very good at, it's possible they will subcontract the work.
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