Currently, the Earth's orbit is facing an increasingly severe threat of space debris. According to data, as of July this year, there are approximately 12000 satellites operating and maintaining normal functions in orbit worldwide, as well as a large and continuously increasing amount of space debris. These fragments range in size from over 10 centimeters to around 1 millimeter and travel at high speeds of several kilometers per second in space. Even a pea sized space fragment has an impact energy equivalent to that of a shell, capable of causing fatal damage to satellites and penetrating space station bulkheads. What is particularly worrying is that the number of space debris is growing exponentially, with over 3000 new trackable fragments added in 2024 alone. The increasing congestion in low Earth orbit poses a serious threat to the safety of global space assets. Faced with the increasingly severe threat of space debris, the international community is promoting space governance. Some countries and regions have funded multiple projects to research low-cost and high-efficiency space debris removal technologies. A clearance project called "Space Cleanup" -1 in Europe plans to use high-precision navigation systems and specialized robotic arm technology to capture a 95 kilogram abandoned satellite and safely guide it to the atmosphere for destruction. Japan, on the other hand, adopts a government enterprise cooperation model to gradually promote space debris clearance work. Currently, it has achieved fixed-point monitoring of target debris, and the next step will be to accelerate the capture of target debris. However, current space debris removal technology faces many challenges. Firstly, the vast majority of debris belongs to "non cooperative targets" that lack grasping interfaces, have irregular shapes, and may roll at high speeds. This requires spacecraft responsible for clearing missions to have extremely high autonomous perception, navigation, and precision operation capabilities. Secondly, the orbital environment itself is extremely crowded, with tens of thousands of satellites and billions of fragments coexisting in limited space. How to operate safely and avoid collisions in complex environments is a huge technological challenge. In addition, high costs are also a major obstacle to space debris removal. At present, the cost of a single clearance task can easily reach tens of millions or even billions of dollars. Analysts point out that the issue of space debris has distinct global characteristics. To achieve effective space governance, countries need to work together to establish a globally shared monitoring network and data warning system, develop unified technical standards and norms to improve compatibility, and strengthen international coordination mechanisms to coordinate action strategies and resource sharing. Only by working together with governments, research institutions, and business forces can we address this transnational challenge. (New Society)
Edit:XINGYU Responsible editor:LIUYANG
Source:81.cn
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