https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/1511.07246/Collected HN comments and submissions linking this paper.enMon, 02 Nov 2026 11:16:22 GMThttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17625026urn:hackerpapers:mention:1511.07246:17625026Fri, 27 Jul 2018 11:00:48 GMT<p>Once the proof of concept is demonstrated, an interesting development is to use a robotic arm to disassemble the junk and grind it into fine dust that can be used as propellant for an electrostatic engine: https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.07246 This way, a single mission can hop from orbit to orbit bringing down hundreds of targets instead of a sole suicidal mission. Another way for serial junk cleanup is to have a number of electrodinamic tethers and attach one on each target after de-tumbling. Even a few hundred meters of conductor materials (carbon fibre) would drastically reduce time in orbit.</p><p><a href="https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/1511.07246/">Paper and discussion history</a>. A mention is not an endorsement.</p>astro-ph.IM