ESA to send huge claw into space to remove space junk

The European Space Agency (ESA) is signing a contract to launch a giant claw into space which will begin clearing up some of the space junk that has been accumulating in the planet's orbit.

Since the first satellite was launched in 1957, there have been over 5,550 more sent into orbit. While some objects fall back down to Earth naturally as their orbit decays, many more remain long after their useful life.

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Today, along with more than 2,600 active satellites in the Earth's orbit, it is estimated that there are over 23,000 tracked objects. As the number of launches and space missions increases, the amount of debris is set to rise with it.

Even a tiny piece of space debris can cause severe damage to a manned spacecraft or satellite if there is a collision which is why the ESA funded the "space claw" project - an €86 million contract to Swiss space startup ClearSpace SA to design and develop the first-ever space debris removal operation.

The target of the mission, named ClearSpace-1, is a Vega Secondary Payload Adaptor, or Vespa, which has been in orbit 650 km (400 mi) above the Earth since 2013 when it helped launch a Vega rocket. This particular object was chosen because of its size - around the same as a small satellite - and because it has an orbit that is well understood.

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ClearSpace-1 is expected to launch in 2025. Once in orbit, it will meet with the Vespa debris and lock onto it using its grapplers. Once secure, it will simply drag the object down into the atmosphere where both of them will burn up.

While this would be an expensive and labour-intensive way of clearing space debris, it is hoped that a successful mission with ClearSpace-1 will allow for more efficient designs in future missions. 

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