TransAstra Corporation will test its Capture Bag debris removal system aboard the International Space Station to validate the technology’s performance in microgravity conditions.
The inflatable system can trap objects of different shapes and sizes, including tumbling debris that presents challenges for conventional capture methods. The testing program is being sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory and aims to advance space debris removal technology for orbital safety applications.
“The beauty of this technology is that we can capture anything that fits into the bag, whether that is an asteroid or a satellite,” said Thibaud Talon, chief engineer at TransAstra. “The system is designed around an inflatable, pressurized structure. Gravity plays a big role in how the bag behaves, so it is critical to demonstrate how it works in actual microgravity.”
The Capture Bag will be inflated inside Voyager Technologies’ Bishop Airlock on the space station. The airlock provides isolation from the ISS cabin atmosphere and can be depressurized to simulate space conditions. The team will monitor bag deployment using four cameras in Bishop Airlock and one inside the Capture Bag system.
The Capture Bag is transported by a carrier vehicle to a target, is opened, flown over the target, and closed around debris. The bag can reopen to capture multiple pieces of debris during one flight mission.
Captured items can be safely de-orbited, placed in higher graveyard orbits, or transported to in-orbit repurposing stations. According to TransAstra, relocating debris to repurposing facilities could cost six times less than de-orbiting, use 80 percent less propellant, and clear orbits 40% faster.
“We’ve tested Capture Bag extensively in vacuum conditions on the ground but deploying it in microgravity is the only way to be sure that we understand how this works,” said Joel Sercel, CEO at TransAstra.
Orbital debris travels at approximately 5 miles per second (8km/s) compared to high-powered rifle bullets at 0.5 miles per second (0.8km/s). Particles as small as 0.03oz (0.85g) can present hazards to spacecraft and astronauts.
The Capture Bag system ranges from coffee mug size to versions capable of capturing 10,000-ton asteroids. The technology aims to provide a simpler and less expensive alternative to robotic arm systems for debris capture operations.
TransAstra believes the technology could be used in asteroid mining applications alongside debris removal and predicts that the combined markets will be worth more than US$1 billion annually by 2030.
The investigation launches aboard Northrop Grumman’s commercial resupply mission scheduled for no earlier than 6:11pm EDT on September 14 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
