Swiss Plan “Janitor Satellite” to Clean Up Space Junk
Saturday, February 18, 2012

Having decided enough’s enough with all the manmade space debris floating around the earth, Switzerland plans to develop a special satellite that will clean up Swiss space junk.
Dubbed CleanSpace One, the project will employ a new kind of “janitor satellite” that can go into orbit, grab a hunk of space debris and pull it back down towards earth, with both satellite and junk burning up before reaching the planet’s surface.
Swiss officials plan to spend $10.8 million to develop the prototype of the janitor satellite.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration estimates there are 16,000 pieces of debris orbiting the earth that are larger than 10 centimeters in diameter. Even ones as small as a few inches in size can cause serious damage to spacecraft. If the Swiss endeavor proves successful, it could lead to other countries doing something about their own refuse left floating in space.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
The Ever-Growing Problem of Space Junk (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
- Top Stories
- Unusual News
- Where is the Money Going?
- Controversies
- U.S. and the World
- Appointments and Resignations
- Latest News
- Musk and Trump Fire Members of Congress
- Trump Calls for Violent Street Demonstrations Against Himself
- Trump Changes Name of Republican Party
- The 2024 Election By the Numbers
- Bashar al-Assad—The Fall of a Rabid AntiSemite
Comments