Orbit Recycling

Space debris is transported from the orbit to the Moon and recycled there. More than 150 tons of aluminium can be regained from Ariane 5 upper stages alone.

Space ResourcesResources - Space Debris UtilizationMaterial Recycling

Created: 2020-08-10

Updated: 2023-01-29

Classification

Space Resources

Category

Resources - Space Debris Utilization

Fields

Material Recycling

Status

Early stage

First launch

Not announced

More than 8,000 tons of space debris endanger all space activities. Satellite operators pay more than €14 million a year for evasive maneuvers and 1 billion USD in insurance premiums. Orbit Recycling is changing this. Large parts of the lunar station can be built with it, e.g. walls, power lines or heat storage systems.

Moon dust (regolith) also plays a special role. "Together with its partners, Orbit Recycling has developed the first prototypes for a foundry on the moon that uses only regolith and materials from space debris," says Koch. "We call the resulting composite material ALReCo." The project was awarded third place in the space innovation competition INNOspace Masters 2020/2021

ALReCo has a high heat capacity and conductivity. It can therefore be used both as a construction element and as an energy storage device. By integrating aluminum structures and flanges made from regolith parts, modular frame constructions for a lunar base could be created.

The first prototypes of a mobile sintering solution and a stationary solution for casting large objects measuring up to four by five meters have already been developed. Both approaches use Fresnel lenses that focus sunlight. Experiments show that it can reach temperatures of 1100 degrees, which is enough for sintering regolith and melting aluminum. Large solar cells or batteries are then no longer necessary. These experiments also show that it is possible to cast aluminum parts using regolith molds. The mold can be hardened by sintering. In this way, several castings in series are possible.