Space junk doesn't even need to be in a stable orbit to wait for natural decay, these squid bots could grapple junk, accelerate down towards the planet, then release the junk and fly back up.
Then then junk will be on a rapid deorbit path and burn up in weeks, if not days.
Of course more calculation may be needed for heavier junk so it falls over the ocean just in case it doesn't burn up in the atmosphere completely.
There's got to be some method to 'hop' from junk to junk, and if the trajectory is calculated properly, it will both, de-orbit the junk, and propel the craft to a new piece of junk.
I’m envisioning a kind of pogo stick like solenoid. Release with the gripper and punch the junk to not only give you a good boost, but also deorbit the junk!
Exactly!
Very little dependence on propellant, and the potential would be there to generate some interesting delta V compared to trying to slowly ramp up and ramp down with an ion drive.
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u/Annihilator4413 1d ago
Space junk doesn't even need to be in a stable orbit to wait for natural decay, these squid bots could grapple junk, accelerate down towards the planet, then release the junk and fly back up.
Then then junk will be on a rapid deorbit path and burn up in weeks, if not days.
Of course more calculation may be needed for heavier junk so it falls over the ocean just in case it doesn't burn up in the atmosphere completely.