A Chinese startup company called Origin Space has launched a prototype robot designed to collect space debris and eventually mine asteroids while in low-Earth orbit.
The Neo-01 robot was launched on the Chinese state-backed rocket Long March recently, and weighs about 30 kg. The system will use a net to catch debris.
Satellites of all kinds – military and civilian – have been launched in their thousands in the past few decades. And when these become obsolete, they just end up floating in space, accounting for a large portion of the debris floating around in space above Earth’s atmosphere. [Read more…] about China launches robot to collect space debris and mine asteroids
