London June 23 (IANS) The first-ever satellite to test possible solutions in cleaning up space junk has been deployed by the International Space Station (ISS) and would soon begin experiments in orbit.
The Britain-built satellite named RemoveDEBRIS mission is one of the world s first attempts to tackle the build-up of dangerous space debris orbiting the Earth the British space agency said in a statement late on Friday.
The 100-kg RemoveDebris spacecraft will attempt to capture simulated space debris using a net and a harpoon while also testing advanced cameras and radar systems.
The experiment is important as there are thousands of pieces of space debris circulating the planet many travelling faster than a speeding bullet posing a risk to valuable satellites and even the International Space Station itself the report stated.
Once the experiments are complete it will unfurl a drag sail to bring itself and the debris out of orbit where it will burn up as it enters the earth s atmosphere.
"If successful the technologies found in RemoveDEBRIS could be included in other missions in the very near future " said Guglielmo Aglietti Professor at the University of Surrey.
The RemoveDEBRIS mission is led by the varsity and built by the world s leading small satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) with technology on board designed by Airbus.
It was launched on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Florida in April.

--IANS rt/vd