Earth’s orbit can be a chaotic place, with malfunctioning spacecraft flying aimlessly across the dark skies. To tackle the growing space debris problem, Airbus has developed a new device designed to keep satellites from rolling away after they are taken out of service.
The aptly named detumbler was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday.It was one 90 payload unload As part of SpaceX’s Transporter-9 mission.
The detumbler is a magnetic damping device intended to be installed on satellites nearing the end of their lifespan. airbus. Weighing about 100 grams, the Detumbler has a central rotor wheel and a magnet that interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, preventing unwanted movement when the vanishing satellite begins to tumble. The device is designed to act like a compass when the satellite is flying normally in its orbit in alignment with the Earth’s magnetic field. But once the rotor starts spinning, its motion creates eddy currents (loops of current in a conductor caused by a changing magnetic field) that create friction and slow the motion.
The device was developed by Airbus in 2021 under the Tech4SpaceCare initiative and with support from the French space agency CNES. The main objective is to address the growing risk of space debris. Dead satellites tend to tumble in unpredictable directions due to flight dynamics in orbit, putting them at risk of colliding with another spacecraft or re-entering Earth’s atmosphere uncontrollably.
But a detumbler would make it easier to capture vanished satellites on future missions aimed at cleaning up space junk by keeping them in a more predictable orbit above Earth’s orbit. Airbus’ new equipment is expected to be demonstrated in a series of demonstrations on EnduroSat’s Exo-0 microsatellite in early 2024.
Currently, more than 27,000 pieces of orbital debris have been discovered. tracked It is monitored by the Department of Defense’s global space surveillance network, and many small pieces are floating around undetected. That number is expected to increase further as the global space industry continues to grow. Increased likelihood of collision It’s right above our heads.The situation is already so bad that the goal of the recently launched space debris removal mission is to attacked by space debris In August, we emphasized how important mitigation measures are needed today.
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