Accumulation of excess dead satellites in space is becoming a major concern for astronomers as it can make space travel pretty dangerous.
Steps are being taken to destroy these satellites outside Earth's orbit with the help of a magnetic grappling beam to prevent any damage from being caused to other space crafts and satellites including the ISS.
Also Read: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals new image of Arp 299, a galactic goulash
Emilien Fabacher, a researcher from France's University of Toulouse has collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) to come up with a groundbreaking way to solve this problem.
This pioneering technology would help in keeping groups of new satellites fly in formation in the orbit, creating a huge telescope in the future which would help the researchers in space exploration, according to Science Alert.
The researchers are planning to use magnetic space tugs to tackle the dead satellites.
Multiple techniques are being investigated, including robotic arms, nets and harpoons, PTI revealed.
"With a satellite you want to deorbit, it is much better if you can stay at a safe distance, without needing to come into direct contact and risking damage to both chaser and target satellites," Fabacher stated.
"So the idea I am investigating is to apply magnetic forces either to attract or repel the target satellite, to shift its orbit or deorbit it entirely," he added.
According to Tech Insider, space junk is present in abundance in space; more than hundred CubeSats, which are the new types of satellites, have been launched by India. These satellites can be built at a lesser cost and are gaining immense popularity.
The number of these satellites launched into space can spike up to 12,000 in the coming years, though they get destructed with time. When their mission ends, they continue to float in space and are capable of triggering danger by clashing with other satellites. This would result in increasing the space debris and make space travel a risky affair.
It won't be an easy task to get hold of the debunked satellites and get them out of the orbit as they will be flying at a pace of thousands of kilometres per hour in order to maintain a stable orbit above the planet.
Calculations are being carried out by the researchers in order to carry out the future operations and find out if Earth's magnetosphere will play any role in impacting the future mission planned by them.
The chaser satellites would be crafted in a way using such technology that it would create strong enough magnetic field to impact the target satellites. This technology is likely to curb the space debris problem in the future.
Check out this video to know more:
