{"id":5867,"date":"2021-12-05T14:59:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T14:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space"},"modified":"2021-12-05T16:49:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T16:49:15","slug":"aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space","title":{"rendered":"Aerospace Company Offers Ion Thruster to Process Space Junk Into Rocket Fuel in Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>While SpaceX is working hard to make reusable rockets a new reality, the launches still leave behind massive amounts of debris in orbit, posing a potential hazard to communication satellites and spacecraft, as the thousands of fragments move at speeds of up to 14 kilometers per second.<\/p>\n

Australian aerospace company Neumann Space has developed a new technology that would enable the processing of space debris into rocket fuel in space. The \u201cin-space electric propulsion system\u201d is expected to enhance the potential of space flights.<\/p>\n

The chain of processing space junk is seen by specialists as a multi-step task requiring a combination of different spacecraft. So far, Japanese start-up Astroscale presented its debris-collector technology earlier this summer, and American company Nanoracks has developed a machine that would store and grind waste materials in space.<\/p>\n

Another US company, Cislunar, constructed an experimental space foundry to melt debris into metal rods that would be used in Neumann Space\u2019s \u201cin-space electric propulsion system\u201d to produce solid fuel. The principle is based on an ion thruster \u201cwhich uses electricity, in powerful bursts similar to an arc welder, to produce plasma, and thrust.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Neumann Space was approached to be part of a supply chain that would melt metal in space, it seemed to them to be a little too futuristic, \u201cbut they got a grant from NASA so we built a prototype and it works,\u201d said the company\u2019s chief executive officer Herve Astier, as cited by The Guardian.<\/p>\n

According to Astier, the point of processing debris in space is that no money would be required to \u201ctake it down into the atmosphere and burn it up.\u201d He added that in principle it would look like \u201ca gas station in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main issue with debris in space is the high speeds at which it travels. Even fragments as small as a button are dangerous as they can penetrate the anti-meteorite protection of the orbital station. In addition, any spacecraft or station is doomed when colliding with an object over 10 centimeters.<\/p>\n

There are approximately 128 million pieces of space debris larger than 1 millimeter and 34 thousand larger than 10 centimeters. About 3,000 satellites have been disabled due to collisions with debris.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. While SpaceX is working hard to make reusable rockets a new reality, the launches still leave behind massive amounts of debris in orbit, posing a potential hazard to communication satellites and spacecraft, as the thousands of fragments move at speeds of up to 14 kilometers per second. Australian aerospace company Neumann Space […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,31],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-5867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nAerospace Company Offers Ion Thruster to Process Space Junk Into Rocket Fuel in Space - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While SpaceX is working hard to make reusable rockets a new reality, the launches still leave behind massive amounts of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aerospace Company Offers Ion Thruster to Process Space Junk Into Rocket Fuel in Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While SpaceX is working hard to make reusable rockets a new reality, the launches still leave behind massive amounts of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-05T14:59:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-05T16:49:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/12\/img-61aced724e51b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1079\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Aerospace Company Offers Ion Thruster to Process Space Junk Into Rocket Fuel in Space\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-05T14:59:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-05T16:49:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\"},\"wordCount\":388,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2021\/12\/img-61aced724e51b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/aerospace-company-offers-ion-thruster-to-process-space-junk-into-rocket-fuel-in-space\",\"name\":\"Aerospace Company Offers Ion Thruster to Process Space Junk Into Rocket Fuel in Space - 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