View part 1: Satellite Trash Collectors: Policies for Space Debris
View Part 3: Next Frontier: Space Disposal Systems and Satellite Servicing
New Hampshire-based Rogue Space Systems Corporation is in the process of developing orbital robots (dubbed orbots) that will allow for the safe removal of space debris. The company’s main robot, Fred, is designed to move satellites and other assets to and from different orbits.
In this video interview with Machine Design, Jeromy Grimmett, founder and CEO of Rogue Space Systems, details the impending technology and its potential impact on society.
“It’s some real Star Trek stuff,” quipped Grimmett.
He explained how omnimagnets, in development through a partnership with the University of Utah, might be used to stop objects from tumbling to Earth. The technology will allow controllers to manipulate even non-magnetic objects in space and allow for six degrees of movement, said Grimmett.
Six degrees of movement or “six degrees of freedom” references the freedom of movement of a rigid body in three-dimensional space. Omnimagnet technology, which consists of electromagnets, creates a magnetic field and synchronizes the orbot with the targeted piece of debris.
Detumbling an object in space without breaking it is both a challenging and expensive endeavor, said Grimmett.
“We can slow the spin in those six axes, so that we can safely approach or grab hold of it, attach drag lines and attach drag streams to it, and then allow it to decay naturally into the upper atmosphere,” Grimmett explained. “That is a safe, sustainable, non-debris creating way of solving a problem.”
READ MORE: Q&A: Clean up on the Space Aisle: Recovering Space Debris