Tag Archives: Space Debris

Toronto based Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced today it had successfully demonstrated its drag sail technology when the CanX-7 satellite deorbited last month.

In this weeks Space Economy podcast we’re presenting a Future in Space Operations talk by Gary Calnan, the founder and CEO of CisLunar Industries.

Astroscale is one of several new startup companies targeting space sustainability services such as satellite life extension services, active debris removal, inspection and orbit transfers.

The Canadian Space Agency has announced through a blog post that the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station has suffered a space debris hit with some minor damage.

It was recently confirmed that Canada’s first space-based satellite, MOST (for Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars), had stopped functioning. Dubbed the “humble” satellite because of its meager budget of $10M but similar mission to the Hubble telescope, MOST’s success was one of Canadian ingenuity.

Space debris is an issue that’s not going away. In fact, it will get worse before it might get better. For Astroscale, an Asian startup based in Singapore and Japan, that spells business opportunity while doing humanity a favour.

The European Union co-funded RemoveDEBRIS satellite demonstration mission led by a team at the Surrey Space Centre demonstrated their first capture of simulated debris this week.

Last Wednesday the European funded RemoveDebris satellite, a space debris technology demonstration, was deployed from the NanoRacks Kaber deployer on the  International Space Station by astronaut Ricky Arnold.

President Trump today signed Space Policy Directive – 3 (SPD-3), space traffic management, which aims to have the U.S. lead in the management of space traffic and space debris.

It should not come as a surprise that space debris tops the list of issues in the 2017 edition of the Space Security Index.