Global Monopoly of Technology

"Global Monopoly of Technology ()"

Luo Sheng was attracted by a piece of news when he browsed the global news of the day, and when he clicked on the content, he couldn't help laughing in surprise, and said to himself, "Yo, Zheng Tao's execution ability is very strong, I like such subordinates. "

In fact, Luo Sheng can check it through Star Arrow International's internal information system. He has the highest overall authority, but he didn't do this, but directly read the news reports.

The news came out not long ago. The Space Center of the University of Surrey announced that it has officially reached an in-depth cooperation with Star Arrow International. The latter invested 22 million euros to support Remove-Debris, a new type of space junk trap developed by the Space Center of the University of Surrey. It will be sent to low-Earth orbit for testing in space this year.

According to the plan, after introducing the new partner of Star Arrow International, this type of space junk trap project will take Star Arrow International's recyclable rocket to the "Tiangong 2" space station in April this year, and then eject it to the designated space Experiment with space coordinates.

As human space exploration activities become more and more frequent and hot, the subsequent junk debris in space orbits has become a problem that has to be faced, and the problem will become more and more prominent as human space activities become more frequent. .

It can be seen that for those who want to make a big difference in the aerospace field, providing solutions for the disposal of orbital space junk is a field with broad commercial application prospects in the future.

The ladder project is extremely vast, and the "Forerunner 1" in the high-altitude orbit is not a big problem, but the "Forerunner 2" in the low-altitude orbit is not the same. Too big also directly or indirectly leads to more prominent space security problems.

Space junk has to be dealt with.

At present, there are more than half a million pieces of space debris floating near the earth, of which more than 20,000 pieces of debris larger than ten centimeters in diameter are located in orbit around the earth.

Much of this debris originates from abandoned satellites and rockets launched over the past seven decades.

Since the launch of the first man-made satellite, countries have launched more than 5,000 satellites, rockets, probes and other spacecraft, and at the same time formed more than 3,000 tons of space junk orbiting the earth.

Moreover, this number is increasing at a rate of 5% every year. It is obvious that under the background of the general trend of human beings moving towards deep space, who can provide solutions to these new problems will inevitably bring rich returns, so more and more People in Vietnam have developed a strong interest in dealing with space junk.

In the past few decades, some solutions have gradually taken shape in order to clean up space junk, and the Remove-Debris space junk trap is one of them.

The project was established as early as 2013, and was funded and developed by the League Committee. The purpose is to remove the space junk generated by human space activities for more than half a century and create a safe space environment for active space vehicles. .

However, the progress of this project is actually not fast, even very slow, and there were two twists and turns in the middle, which almost ran aground indefinitely.

The reason is one word: money!

Two words: no money!

Europe is really out of money, and after the conflict between the euro area and Britain, the future of this project has become worrisome.

Not to mention that the British Space Agency is going to increase the budget for space exploration. Europeans whose welfare benefits have been affected are angry that this is a waste of money for meaningless things, and they are also demanding cuts in funding.

For the British Space Agency's annual budget of less than 300 million pounds, the Remove-Debris project can only seek more international cooperation if it wants to progress steadily.

In the past few years, in addition to the Surrey Space Center, the follow-up participants in the project have successively cooperated with scientific research institutions such as Stellenbosch University in South Africa, as well as ten aerospace companies including Airbus.

Now a new partner, Star Arrow International, has been introduced.

However, Star Arrow International is not just giving money to people who are stupid and rich, but to deeply participate in it and have the right to speak.

Like the so-called international space cooperation money more than 20 years ago, the Chinese people pay the bills, but the Chinese people are not allowed to access core technologies, which does not exist in contemporary times.

At least in Luo Sheng, it is absolutely impossible to exist.

Times have changed.

Now, the Surrey Space Center has come to ask Star Arrow International, not only because of lack of money, but also because Star Arrow International's "Ladder Project" is a potential super customer for countless astronauts in the future.

In fact, the Remove-Debris space junk trap has been manufactured as early as two years ago, but due to lack of funds, it has been delayed to be sent to space for testing. There is no real experimental data analysis, and it is completely based on brain supplementation. Theoretical calculation, the next step of research is also unable to progress.

The mass of the instrument is about 100 kilograms. In appearance, it is a cube of about 0.75 meters square. In addition to two small satellites for simulating garbage, it is also equipped with a robotic arm for garbage collection, a traction trailer Sails and equipment like harpoons and fishing nets, combined with external camera arrays, lidars and other sensors, can verify the feasibility of garbage recycling in space.

The cooperation between Star Arrow International and Surrey Space Center also has a clear plan, but there is no detailed information in this regard in the news reports, and neither party has disclosed more details for the time being, but it will definitely be announced in the future.

Luo Sheng closed the news page and asked, "Xiao Na, what are the plans for Remove-Debris?"

Xiaona responded in seconds: "After launching Remove-Debris into the intended orbit, there will be 4 test missions. In the first test, Remove-Debris will release a small satellite, after it flies to a position about seven meters away Then fire a net at it."

"The second test will release a second small satellite, which is targeted to test lidar and navigation systems."

"In the third test, Remove-Debris unfolded a 5.15-meter-long robotic arm and launched a harpoon at a target of 0.01 square meters at the top of the robotic arm."

"In the fourth test, the tow-trailer would drag the entire trap and the object it caught falling to Earth, where it would eventually burn up in the atmosphere."

Hearing this, Luo Sheng couldn't help dragging his chin with one hand and entered a state of thinking, and said to himself: "The solution provided by the Remove-Debris space junk trap can only be valuable for space junk with a large volume and mass. Fragments obviously don't work."

From the perspective of the Remove-Debris test process, the cost of this solution is not low, and it is good to deal with larger space junk debris. If it is small, using this solution is like an anti-aircraft gun to hit mosquitoes, which is not cost-effective.

Luo Sheng said, "Xiao Na, have you recruited providers of space debris disposal solutions smaller than 10 centimeters?"

There are 50,000 to 600,000 fast debris flying around in space orbit, among which there are more than 20,000 debris larger than 10 centimeters in diameter. It is possible to deal with these large debris with the Remove-Debris space junk trap, but the remaining few A hundred thousand smaller shards obviously won't do.

And it is precisely those small fragments that are more troublesome. Space junk travels at a speed of 6,000 to 7 kilometers per second in space. Because of the high relative speed, the potential harm is extremely great. A space junk weighing only 10 grams is produced. The impact capacity is equivalent to the energy generated by the head-on collision of two cars traveling at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

For the "Forerunner 2" space station operating in low orbit, the threat of small debris is huge. If these space debris are not cleared, the threat of a potential series of impact events will be difficult to remove.

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