We created this animation for Surrey Space Centre, who are one of 22 projects at the Royal Society’s Summer Exhibition, which features exhibits, talks and activites for all ages.
It puts into context the issue of space junk, and shows how Surrey Space Centre, in collaboration with others in the space sector, are building missions to test and refine methods for removing and reducing space debris.
The official spiel: “Since the beginning of the space age, over 7,000 tonnes of space junk has been generated – mostly empty rocket casings and dead satellites. Most of the objects launched into space are still orbiting the Earth, threatening collisions with active satellites. Our exhibit invites you to explore our flagship RemoveDEBRIS mission, which aims to be the first to test capture technologies that drag space junk back into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up.”
Cleaning up Space Junk on the Royal Society website.