Three Scottish space junk projects from Strathclyde University to tackle space debris have won £500,000 from the UK Space Agency.

A total of £1.7 million in funding for 13 projects was announced by UK Science Minister George Freeman during a visit to the Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire.

Hyperspectral Imager for Space Surveillance and Tracking gained £169,500 to demonstrate the use of new hyperspectral imaging sensors to detect and characterise objects orbiting around the Earth.

The tech uses a mix advanced hyperspectral tech with modern deep learning to understand the composition of space objects, their motions and predict their movement.

Artificial Intelligence for Space Surveillance and Tracking (AI4SST) received £153,500 for its Computational Agent for Space Situational Awareness and Debris Remediation Automation framework (CASSANDRA), which incorporates AI tech to help manage orbital traffic and avoid collisions.

Lastly, fast determination of satellite re-entry and fragmentation (FASTFRAG) got £199,000 to look at the critical role that fast, physically accurate tools for the analysis of the re-entry of controlled and uncontrolled objects play in the space sector.

Commenting on the Scottish space junk projects, Professor Massimiliano Vasile, Director of ACE and project lead for HyperSST and AI4SST, said: “We are delighted to have won funding from the UK Space Agency for these three projects which will help to ensure the sustainable use of space.

“The future of space flight and satellite applications, our reliance on which will only grow, demands that we work hard to ensure to reduce the risks that orbital debris present.

“The Aerospace Centre of Excellence at Strathclyde is well-placed to play a leading role in promoting space sustainability alongside our global partners.”

Orbital congestion is currently one of the biggest global challenges facing the space sector. There are estimated to be around 330 million pieces floating in Earth’s orbit, including old satellites, rockets, and discarded tools.

In early March, a Falcon 9 rocket owned by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is set to crash into the moon after falling too far away from earth to be salvaged.

Supposedly SpaceX could be sued after questions were raised about the legality of letting space junk crash onto the moon’s surface unabated.

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An incident in May last year when a Chinese rocket crashed into the earth prompted calls to further address the growing problem of space junk.

The 18-tonne Chinese Long March 5B missile plunged into the Indian Ocean after transporting equipment to China’s new space station.

Dr Christie Maddock, who is the project lead for FASTFRAG, said: “Addressing the risk of the atmospheric re-entry of space debris is progressively becoming more and more pressing due to the increase in the number of orbiting objects, the consequent higher frequency of re-entry and the need to ensure that any new satellite or spacecraft is operated safely throughout its life.”

Science Minister George Freeman said: “Like debris on Everest, the first generation of space exploration and satellite launch has left millions of pieces of dangerous satellite fragments and 4,000 redundant satellites in orbit.

“As our reliance on satellites for everyday activity grows, and the UK becomes a leading hub of small satellite design, manufacturing and launch this year via Virgin Orbit in Cornwall, this debris now poses a serious threat to our £16 billion space sector.”

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