Recycling at the highest level

Space debris, inspiration from a classic video game character and Kiruna – how does it relate to recycling of the future? Although over 1,000 satellites are sent into space each year, very few of them are recycled and reused, and we want to change that.

The green industrial transition needs large quantities of metals and minerals to succeed. Some of these are extracted as new raw materials from the earth, while others have been taken up before and reused.

In the future, we need to recycle and reuse much more than we do today. This is how we reduce the waste of valuable material, on Earth and in space. Recycling in space does not yet take place on a large scale, despite that a lot of space debris is also formed – often consisting of metals and plastics.

How does recycling work in space?

We are looking at a solution to collect decommissioned satellites and other debris from collisions, which in turn can be used to make elements, propellants, or structures for satellites. In this way, we can supply a material-intensive industry with recycled material when producing new products or fuels.

Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck, Professor of Product innovation, and René Laufer, Professor of Space systems – both at Luleå University of Technology – explain how it could happen in practice:

“The solution we envision is a bit like a Pac-Man (a Japanese video game series), with a 'mouth' that catches and 'eats' the space debris. The material is processed, melted and/or cooled and can then be reused in space.”