Overly Crowded Space Can Be Solved by De-orbiting Satellites

Overly crowded space can now be solved, and this is by de-orbiting satellites, a press release from an IoT firm states.

According to a report from Interesting Engineering, outer-space is very crowded. As of last month, more than 3,300 satellites were found orbiting the planet, and SpaceX is fast lifting the figure with its every launch of Starlink.

Nevertheless, as earlier mentioned, a new satellite from Hiber, a Dutch internet-of-things or IoT company, sent an innovative satellite "into space designed to de-orbit itself" once its lifespan reaches exhaustion.

Called the Hiber Four satellite, it was lifted on the Transporter-1 rideshare of SpaceX, the first this year. However, with satellites said to be launching into low-Earth orbit with rising frequency, the question of de-orbiting satellites would help reduce the crowd arises.

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Advantage of De-orbiting Satellites

According to the press release, de-orbiting satellites is advantageous as it can help reduce the crowd in space.

Hiber Four is a second-generation satellite developed and built by the in-house engineers of Hiber, stationed in its office in Amsterdam.

Both Hiber Four and Hiber Three, its sister satellite, is slated for launch in March.

This is because reduced mass lessens the cost to launch up to 50 percent. This next-generation design features onboard impulsion, allowing them to change the orbital trajectory of the satellite remotely.

The statement also specified that Hiber satellites could be an inspiration to other companies so they could focus on de-orbiting.

On-Board Propulsion

Through an on-board propulsion, satellites of Hiber can prevent collisions form occurring and "de-orbit themselves at the end of their lifespan," setting a new regulation in accountable operators of CubeSat constellation in the whole world.

According to Co-Founder and ME Technology Maarten Engelen of Hiber, "This is only the beginning" of what's to come.

He added, "We moved all of our integration and operations" both for "satellites and end-to-end solutions in-house" in 2020, which provides greater control over cost, usability, and speed of enhancement.

Engelen also said, by regulating full control, they can innovate speedier and quickly respond to the needs of the customers.

Space Junk

Earlier Hiber satellites were designed, developed and assembled externally. This made Hiber Four the original totally in-house project for Hiber.

Some of the latest technology on-board the Hiber Four comprises the most recent product of the company, the HiberHilo, an end-to-end temperature and a support monitoring intended for fossil fuel companies.

This is particularly relevant in light of space debris' mass, also called space junk, comprising about 94 percent of all launches.

Approximates of the total buildup of space junk comprises over 750,000 particles which have a diameter between around 0.4 and four inches, and over 20,000 scraps of orbital junk that has diameters over four inches are locked "between low-Earth and geostationary orbital trajectories."

As technically, as there is no weight in space, more than 60 percent of the space junk has a 7,500-metric-ton mass. It is no longer surprising then that firms including Iridium aims to spend to de-orbit 30 of its now-obsolete satellites stuck in orbit.

Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times.