{"id":36677,"date":"2021-04-15T09:36:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T00:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/?p=36677"},"modified":"2021-04-15T09:39:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T00:09:06","slug":"its-not-how-big-your-laser-is-its-how-you-use-it-space-law-is-an-important-part-of-the-fight-against-space-debris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/its-not-how-big-your-laser-is-its-how-you-use-it-space-law-is-an-important-part-of-the-fight-against-space-debris","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not how big your laser is, it\u2019s how you use it: space law is an important part of the fight against space debris"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Steven Freeland<\/a>, Western Sydney University<\/a> and Annie Handmer<\/a>, University of Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n Space is getting crowded. More than 100 million tiny pieces of debris are spinning in Earth orbit, along with tens of thousands of bigger chunks and around 3,300 functioning satellites<\/a>.<\/p>\n Large satellite constellations such as Starlink are becoming more common, infuriating astronomers and baffling casual skywatchers<\/a>. In the coming decade, we may see many more satellites launched<\/a> than in all of history up to now.<\/p> Collisions between objects in orbit are getting harder to avoid. Several technologies for getting space debris out of harm\u2019s way have been proposed, most recently the plan from Australian company Electro Optic Systems (EOS) to use a pair of ground-based lasers<\/a> to track debris and \u201cnudge\u201d it away from potential collisions or even out of orbit altogether.<\/p>\n Tools like this will be in high demand in coming years. But alongside new technology, we also need to work out the best ways to regulate activity in space and decide who is responsible for what.<\/p>\n EOS\u2019s laser system is just one of a host of \u201cactive debris removal\u201d (ADR) technologies proposed over the past decade. Others involve sails, tentacles, nets, claws, harpoons, magnets and foam.<\/p> Outside Australia, Japan-based company Astroscale<\/a> is currently testing its ELSA system<\/a> for capturing debris with magnets. The British RemoveDEBRIS project has been experimenting with nets and harpoons<\/a>. The European Space Agency (ESA) is engaged in various debris-related missions including the ClearSpace-1<\/a> \u201cspace claw\u201d, designed to grapple a piece of debris and drag it down to a lower orbit where the claw and its captured prey will end their lives in a fiery embrace.<\/p>\nActive debris removal<\/h2>\n