MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) - A space vehicle which can catch and process into fuel debris orbiting the Earth has received two Russian patents, according to a presentation of the craft at the 44th academic cosmonautics readings.
The problem of debris in the circumterrestrial orbit is systemic and its resolution calls for urgent measures, the report's author and patent holder Maria Barkova, of the Russian Space Systems company, said.
The bulk of such debris is expired spacecraft of varying size, rocket stages, space probes and their fragments, and operational waste. The rise in launches of new spacecraft has led to the increased danger of collision between active satellites and those whose service life has expired.
To resolve this problem, Barkova proposes creating a vehicle that would catch and process debris in orbits from 800 kilometers into a so-called pseudo-liquid propellant.
The idea is that the catcher of the debris would locate it and catch it with a 100-meter-diameter titanium net capable of taking in up to half a tonne of metal at a time, then crushing and converting it into methane and water by way of the Sabatier reaction. The former will be used as fuel, and the water is necessary to break it up into oxygen and hydrogen for new reaction cycles. The duration of reaction is six to eight hours.
"The craft's service life is ten years," Barkova told Interfax.
She said she had received a patent for the invention of the space debris catcher and that an application was pending an industrial prototype and an international patent.