China Plans to Destroy Space Junk With Giant LasersNewsweek
Anthony Cuthbertson •January 15, 2018
Chinese scientists have an audacious proposal to clean up Earth’s cluttered orbit using giant lasers to obliterate old satellites and other space junk.
A paper, titled Impacts of orbital elements of space-based laser station on small scale space debris removal, by researchers at the Air Force Engineering University in China describes how space debris could be zapped into smaller, less-harmful pieces using space-based lasers.
Space junk is an issue that has been occupying international space agencies for years, with NASA considering a variety of options to track, detect and remove man-made debris.
Other methods for clearing up small-scale space debris includes giant nets used to sweep up and collect the waste, and magnets that could be used to draw them out of orbit.
The Chinese scientists conducted a simulation of the laser station, concluding that it would be an effective method for clearing up Earth’s orbit.
“[The simulation] provides necessary theoretical basis for the deployment of space-based laser station and the further application of space debris removal by using space-based laser [sic],” the
paper’s abstract states.
Research by U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin in 2014 found that every day there were around 200 threats to orbiting satellites.
The high-speed debris orbiting the planet, which continues to increase with each passing year, is viewed as a serious threat to future space missions and has been described by experts at the European Space Agency as a “deadly cascade.”
China is one of the worst offenders when it comes to producing space junk, with just one anti-satellite test in 2007 generating thousands of items of dangerous debris.
“Any of these debris has the potential for seriously disrupting or terminating the mission of operational spacecraft in low Earth orbit,” Nicholas Johnson, the chief scientist for Orbital Debris, said at the time.
“This satellite breakup represents the most prolific and serious fragmentation in the course of 50 years of space operations.”
The state-backed China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology is planning a space craft capable of carrying up to 20 passengers. China Academy of Launch Vehicle TechnologyFears have also been raised about China’s intentions to destroy orbiting satellites, with a U.S. general warning last year that the superpower was building space weapons in order to “challenge the balance of power in the world.”
Gen. John Hyten told CNN in March: “They’ve been building weapons, testing weapons, building weapons to operate from the earth in space, jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secre. They’re building those capabilities to challenge the United States of America, to challenge our allies… WE cannot allow that to happen.”
http://www.newsweek.com/china-plans-destroy-space-junk-giant-lasers-781276
How would that work? A sufficiently-powerful laser -which seems unlikely/infeasible in LEO- firing from ahead at the leading orbital edge of junk would tend to have an ablative effect, and tend to deorbit the debris. Fine.
-But we're talking about mostly small stuff of all possible shapes, density, and albedo; not only would the needed angle make for a tricky shot to not hit something behind it that's functional and supposed to be there, but you'd probably get a lot of crap flying off in all directions. The (vaporized?) mass isn't going anywhere but a different orbit or reentry, and that's if it doesn't just significantly
reflect the laser and remain relatively unaffected, depending on the light pressure, which would be a real problem for the lasersat's navigation if it amounted to much.
