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Precision and crudeness are two different states.

Other countries take crude measures against space debris, while Pathfinder's measures are precise.

To put it simply, the Americans previously proposed a radical method for 'cleaning' near-Earth space.

A university research group there is studying a new technology that uses gas 'pulses' to shoot at space debris. This proposed new system is called the 'Space Debris Removal System'. It increases the friction on space junk by firing gas pulses into the path of the target debris, causing it to descend and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Additionally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will invest in the research and development of two-dimensional spacecraft. This spacecraft is made of a special two-dimensional thin-film material that can wrap up space debris and remove it from orbit.

Although called a spacecraft, it is actually a 'large net', working similarly to a net gun that captures drones.

Well, not exactly similar.

Anyway… figure it out yourself.

Furthermore, the British Empire is using miniature electric thrusters on small satellites. This can safely bring satellites back into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up in the air, thereby avoiding the generation of space debris and controlling the congestion of satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Other countries are installing robotic arms on aerospace equipment to cut solar panels…

呸呸 (Pēi pēi, onomatopoeia for spitting in disgust), how could that be? Robotic arms are for doing serious work. Capture devices can approach space debris, then extend the robotic arm to grab it, and send it to a higher orbit so that it does not affect the flight of other spacecraft.

Or push it out of orbit and send it towards Earth. Small debris burns up in the atmosphere, while large debris passes through the atmosphere and is completely 'buried' in the 'spacecraft cemetery' in the South Pacific waters.

Well, that's basically it.

"Burn it, burn it! If we don't burn it, how can Earth have clean orbits, and how can humanity have a bright future!"

In fact, even without these 'cleaning facilities,' scientists have ways to deal with some space debris.

For example, to dispose of artificial satellites in low-Earth orbit, space engineers will slightly alter their orbit to enter a lower orbit and re-enter the atmosphere to burn up within 25 years. This is known as the '25-year rule' for artificial satellites.

Satellite fuel is very precious and cannot be used unless absolutely necessary.

To change orbit without external thrust, every bit of fuel must be precisely calculated. Therefore, these satellites will only use the last remaining bit of fuel in the final seconds after they have consumed all their fuel to give the artificial satellite a thrust, allowing them to begin to decelerate and enter a descending orbit.

If the artificial satellite is too large to be completely burned up during re-entry into the atmosphere, then the satellite's last remaining fuel will be used to decelerate and deorbit it in a certain direction so that the debris falls in a remote area. This remote area can be called the 'spacecraft cemetery,' specifically located in the South Pacific Ocean.

Yes, this is a very famous place, burying many well-known aerospace equipment in human history.

And they are all big ones.

Humans like big things, of course the bigger the more famous.

Of course, these falling satellites are all in low-Earth orbit, but Earth doesn't just have low-Earth orbit, it also has artificial satellites far from Earth, such as in geostationary orbit.

If a scrapped satellite is in a very high orbit, then reducing its speed to deorbit it will require a lot of fuel, which the artificial satellite at the end of its life cycle does not have.

Therefore, since it cannot be sent back to Earth, simply push such satellites into a higher orbit, a place called the 'graveyard orbit'.

In fact, pushing a scrapped far-Earth satellite into such a higher orbit only requires changing the speed by 11 meters per second, while lowering its orbit to re-enter the atmosphere requires changing the speed by 1,500 meters per second. Therefore, the 'fuel economy' is obvious, and thrifty engineers certainly know what to do.

The graveyard orbit, also known as the 'junk orbit' or 'disposal orbit,' is located more than 36,000 kilometers above the Earth, hundreds of kilometers higher than the farthest far-Earth satellites, in order to ensure the safety of other normal satellites.

Satellites in 'graveyard orbit' will continue to orbit the Earth for hundreds of years before gradually losing altitude.

Scientists are not worried about this distant future. Perhaps two or three centuries later, scientists of that era will have a way to remove this space debris.

As a result, without waiting two or three centuries, Pathfinder is now starting to remove this space debris.

Burning space debris is too wasteful, Pathfinder wants to do fine work.

The equipment already in space orbit is too precious.

Worker Bee One shuttled through the debris belt for a while. Although it collided with some space debris, because the relative speed was slow, the impact was not significant. It would not violently knock out space debris and cause trouble for other normally operating satellites.

Although the probability of causing trouble to other satellites by randomly hitting some space debris is very low, it is not 100% without problems.

Pathfinder is a responsible human company, and it would not do that kind of thing.

Soon, Worker Bee One found that Tianxia communication satellite.

The camera on Worker Bee One is not comparable to the camera that comes with a normal rocket upper stage. Generally, there are some photos before a satellite goes into space, but after the satellite enters space, its final images come from the camera of the rocket's upper stage, and almost no one has seen the satellite's actual orbital operation.

So, just like watching space debris along the way, people finally saw the real operating conditions of artificial satellites this time.

Then Worker Bee One mercilessly grabbed the solid structure on the satellite with its robotic arm, and the Tianxia Aerospace Administration used permissions to make the satellite retract its solar panels.

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This way it flies faster.

Of course, it can also fly with the solar panels open, but with such large panels sticking out, Worker Bee One has armor and is certainly not afraid of space debris impacts, but if it flies all the way back to the maintenance bay, the satellite may really be scrapped.

With the satellite retracting its solar panels, Worker Bee One began to transform. Two hatches opened directly in the middle of the hull, and the robotic arm gently put the satellite inside.

This is an intact satellite and cannot be rushed back all the way at the front, it must be protected.

The better the protection, the easier it will be to maintain and upgrade later.

After safely transporting the satellite back to the maintenance bay, it and the spacecraft entered the maintenance bay together, and then were fixed. Finally, lights out!

The people watching the live broadcast then reacted.

"What's next?"

"Is that it?"

Of course not, how could Pathfinder's show be so anticlimactic.

The maintenance bay is just a maintenance bay, with machines and equipment, but its most important feature is its large space, which is empty enough to provide a sufficiently large pressurized space.

Therefore, it does not have many manufacturing equipments. Without manufacturing equipment, parts cannot be manufactured, and it needs to be used in conjunction with the manufacturing center.

This is also why the two maintenance bays are installed on both sides of the manufacturing center.

As for the manufacturing center, it will be launched in a week.

The Yishan rocket will undergo some repairs and then launch the manufacturing center.

At that time, astronauts will board the orbital shuttle to dock with the manufacturing center, and then enter the maintenance bay through the manufacturing center.

As for maintaining and upgrading a satellite or something, waiting a week is normal.

Anyway, it's almost scrapped. If it can be inspected and upgraded, it will definitely be a great deal.