Upcycling, Recycling and De-Orbiting Satellites

Thanks to low earth orbit constellations, Satellite telecommunications networks are on the verge of mass market adoption. Low cost launches and commercial mass manufacturing methods have created a rapid increase in the number of satellites - half of the those in orbit today were launched in the last 3 years.

The opportunities this brings are immense, going beyond monitoring and communications. Factories manufacturing advanced materials and power stations beaming down power to Earth will be prototyped before the end of the decade. With this scale of activity comes an ever greater number of obsolescent and end-of-life objects circling our planet - space junk.

Enter the world of satellite upcycling, recycling and de-orbiting - extending the life or upgrading existing satellites through in-orbit refuelling, reconfiguration, servicing or collection and deorbiting.