Thursday, December 5, 2024

Space Debris Dragger

The problematic Space Debris are the ones that stay in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) for years. Mainly the drag at their orbiting altitude slows them. When they slow down, Earth's gravity overcomes centrifugal force and they burn up in the atmosphere. Solar winds and storms usually increase the drag on LEO. We can try to mimic the solar winds high energy particles by focused electron or photon beams. I propose the giant hydrogen balloons for that. They would be positioned at higher altitudes like 50km. Their large surface area would be covered by high efficiency solar panels. The panels would charge super capacitors that operate the big electron or laser  guns. The gun would be directed at small space debris and create drag points on their orbiting paths. With this method we would create clean zones for LEO satellites to operate. The operating cost of such a setup would be very low. Deployment would be cheaper and faster compared to a space debris cleaning solution.

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