Saturday, February 18, 2012

Space janitor

Lots of us know that the space debris problem is a big problem that's going to get bigger and harder to handle before it gets better, and it may not get better.   And that means problems for necessary things like working satellites in space.  Space debris will also make it more dangerous to operate a large target like the International Space Station.

So leave it to the Swiss, who run one of the tidiest and cleanest countries in the world, to come up with a plan to address the space debris issue -- a janitor satellite.  A satellite designed to pick up space junk and send it back to fiery destruction in the atmosphere.

The thing is, it's also going to be a money-making machine for the Swiss, because commercial satellite operators will probably chip in to pay them to clean up hazardous debris that will threaten multimillion dollar satellite investments.

All-in-all, a good idea from the Swiss. 

Swiss to launch space junk cleaning satellite

Swiss develop satellite to dispose of space junk

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