Clean Space: Netting a satellite

ESA’s proposed mission plans to demonstrate the retrieval and disposal of a derelict satellite from low-Earth orbit. The mission needs to capture a massive, drifting object left in an uncertain state, which may well be tumbling rapidly. Several capture mechanisms are being studied in parallel – including casting a net. Polish company SKA Polska won this new ESA Member State’s first competitive contract to design a prototype net gun that could be tested in microgravity on a parabolic flight. Wojte