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NASA and other space agencies around the world have accomplished some really amazing things in space, but the price to pay for these adventures is huge, not just financially. The space around the Earth is now cluttered with what is lovingly called "space debris" – pieces of rockets, long dead satellites and other debris – and somebody else. one will have to clean it sooner or later.
There have been many proposals and attempts to develop systems that could help eliminate waste from the Earth's orbit, but progress has been slow. Net systems and other concepts have been tested, but a new spatial harp testing seems to be possible.
The harpoon was tested by a group of researchers from the University of Surrey's RemoveDEBRIS project, who also tested a net capture system in late 2018. Here is the harpoon in action:
"I think we have demonstrated that the technology is viable," said Guglielmo Aglietti of the RemoveDEBRIS project The edge. "Although what we have done will need to be scaled to be able to hit very large debris, the method has been successfully tested."
The idea here is pretty simple: Artificial debris in Earth orbit will eventually fall into the atmosphere and will be cremated by intense friction, and speeding up this process is probably the easiest way to eliminate the space debris. This harpoon system (along with the network-based capture option) catches the trash and drags it into the atmosphere where it vaporizes.
Even small space debris could condemn space stations or missions on the Moon or on other planets. It is important to ensure that waste does not hinder human progress, especially when the astronaut is at risk, and this ongoing project will hopefully lead to the best solution.
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