Spacewatch: floating 'space junk' captured

Surrey Space Centre scheme for removing orbiting debris successfully nets test junk

A satellite launched from the International Space Station has caught a piece of simulated space junk by ensnaring it in a net. Co-funded by the European commission, the 100kg RemoveDebris satellite was launched to the station in April as cargo on a supply mission. It was deployed from the station in June, and on 16 September began its experimental phase. It launched a small object to act as a dead satellite and a few seconds later fired a net at it.

The net unfurled as it caught up and then wrapped itself about the object. The extra mass that the net provides will help drag the object down into Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up.