The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch a satellite into Earth orbit in 2027 Watch it break apart as it reenters the atmosphere. The project aims to help understand exactly how satellites disintegrate so that scientists can learn how to prevent the formation of more space debris.
Space junk is becoming a bigger problem as more satellites are sent into orbit, but there are efforts to try to address it. This mission is part of ESA’s Debris Zero Initiative to stop the creation of additional space debris by 2030.
The mission is called Destructive Reentry Evaluation Container Object (DRACO), and the interior of the satellite will collect data when the vehicle is destroyed during its re-entry into the atmosphere. It will also contain a 40cm capsule designed to survive devastation that will transmit data collected as the capsule moves towards the ocean.
Aerospace engineering firm Deimos has been contracted to build DRACO, which will be the size of a washing machine and weigh about 200 kg (441 lb). It will contain 200 sensors and four cameras, but no propulsion or navigation systems. Most space debris that returns to Earth can’t be controlled anyway, and the goal is to closely mimic an average reentry, according to the ESA report. press release.
It is very important to obtain data before the capsule hits the water, and there may be challenges, such as trying to deploy the parachute while landing in the sky. The European Space Agency says there will be a 20-minute window to collect data.
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