We often think of space as a vast expanse of mostly unexplored celestial bodies millions of miles away. It's hard to imagine that one could use the word "cluttered" to describe it. But, that's exactly what it is – at least when it comes to Earth's immediate orbit.
The first satellite launched into space was Russia's Sputnik in 1957. Since then, thousands of others have followed suit, though not all survived intact. According to a video feature for NASA Tech Briefs, there are currently about 700 known active satellites orbiting our planet.
Those vessels are constantly under the threat of impact by the remnants of satellites that are no longer functioning but never fell out of orbit and crashed back to Earth's surface.
As the video's narrator points out, an American satellite was struck by such an object in 2009, destroying the $55 million piece of equipment and creating thousands of new pieces of debris for others to contend with.
"Something has to be done about this problem," said Swiss Space Center Director Volker Gass. "Collisions between satellites and debris are bound to happen, and as one collision multiplies the [amount] of debris and can create up to 2,000 additional [pieces], there is going to be an avalanche effect and more and more satellites are going to be kicked out or destroyed in orbit."
As the threat of impact increases, insurance premiums climb. The average cost to insure an active satellite today is around $20 billion, the news source reports.
In response to this problem, scientists at the Swiss Space Center are developing a new series of satellites that can enter space, use a mechanical arm or other mechanism to retrieve debris and then return safely to Earth, thereby reducing the risk to current and future satellites. The project is called ClearSpace One.
This will likely be the first of many similar projects around the world and, for them to succeed, researchers will rely on innovative methods of joining dissimilar metals to build these devices in order to reduce manufacturing costs and improve stability.