A start-up company from Australia has just finalized a fascinating new build to destroy space junk all the way from the surface of the earth.
The powerful laser developed by EOS Space Systems went through a long seven years development program, only now to aim and snipe dangerous space debris from Australia’s Mt. Stromio Observatory. If it works as expected, it will make space safer for satellites and will also eliminate the need for dangerous space clean-up missions.
Space junk could travel to speeds up to 17,500 miles per hour and poses a threat to destroy satellites and other space stations, and more alarmingly brings along the risk of coming in contact with a human astronaut.
With the new top sniper, the space junk would be pushed into the deeper space, away from where it poses a risk to our planet and our space missions. The new gun consists of two lasers; the first one sets the aim, while the second one does the key action in destroying the space debris.
“It’s a unique type of laser which we’ve just grown to [the] right scale and power so we can map the atmosphere then use the maps which are made hundreds of times a second to correct laser beams on the ground, so they propagate into space perfectly,” EOS Systems CEO Ben Greene told 9News. “That will allow us to apply very high-power laser beams to move space debris in space and make space navigation much safer.”
The laser system provides a quicker solution to eliminate space debris, replacing the need for risky cleanup missions. Other ways of cleaning up essentially require launching something in the space, but the new laser works tremendously well right from the earth’s safety, giving out swift results with comparatively a fraction of efforts.