02x05 - Race to Space

[bunniefuu]

[rocket blasting loudly]

It's been described

as the democratization of space.

What was once the preserve of
governments and superpowers

is evolving into a truly global industry.

The catalyst for this dramatic change,

a new generation of satellites,

some no bigger than a shoebox

that will be deployed not in ones or twos,

but in their thousands.

[upbeat music]

[bright upbeat music]

A global technological
revolution is underway.

We think in the next 10 years,

you'll see more innovation than we've seen

in the past 50 years.

Driven by passionate,
dedicated individuals,

intent on shaping a new world.

I wanna create something new.

I wanna create something that

gives me the sense of creating new life,

this is why I'm here.

A greener world.

This is the last call to action

that we have to develop the solutions

that are protecting our planet.

A better world.

I have a family and when I think about

the life I want them to have
and their children to have.

I want them to experience
the world where they can

travel and live without worry.

And that gets me up and going every day.

Together they are pushing engineering

to its limits.

Human creativity is the
most tremendous power.

And if you set a target

things that you never thought
possible, become possible.

Creating extraordinary machines

that can help the planet
and humankind in the future.

[gentle upbeat music]

[soft music]

The US Forest Service

spends half of its entire
budget fighting wildfires.

A study into the fires of 2018

put the economic cost of
just those in California alone

at $147 billion.

But these firefighters are about to benefit

from a revolution that is happening

hundreds of miles above them.

[rocket blasting loudly]

In recent years, satellites
have been getting

smaller, smarter and cheaper.

Often we referred to as nanosatellites,

they have opened up the space industry

to a new generation of
companies and scientists

who are in turn revolutionizing our ability

to observe our planet and to communicate.

In Munich, Germany can be found OroraTech,

one of this new breed of
space technology companies

enabled by the advent
of these nanosatellites.

We plan to use say
constellation of about 100

of satellites to watch for wildfires,

and anything larger than 10 meters across.

It's part of the world's first

global wildfire intelligence service.

And we will be able to detect fires

and report in the outbreaks
within about half an hour.

OroraTech system is
based on years of research

at the Technical University of Munich.

Fitted with thermal infrared sensors,

the satellites will be able to reduce

wildfire detection time
from hours down to minutes,

and then be able to
monitor them in real time.

Transforming not only
our ability to fight them

but also our understanding of their causes.

The reason why we are
able to do it right now.

And we wouldn't have been 10 years ago

is because of the improvement in technology

driven by the computer
and smartphone industry,

but also the sensor
technology we are using.

This has become available
within the last couple of years.

This new technology has kind of

opened up the space industry,

not just to startups like us,

but also to research
groups at universities,

to students to test new
technology in space.

Helping to nurture this

new global space industry
are organizations such as

Satellite Applications Catapult,

a UK government supported
space innovation company,

which provides advice and shared testing

and operational facilities.

Right now we're seeing space pivot

from where it was
previously about a little bit

of trying to outdo your
international neighbor

in terms of military capability
and defense in aerospace.

Or understand our cosmic
origins in the universe

we're pivoting to commercial space.

So we go to space now to
basically create an economy,

to create material wealth,

which we can use on earth
and we can use in space.

So what's happening right
now is that we are seeing

companies from across
the world saying space,

this is the place we need to be.

This is the place we need to do things.

And at the heart of this revolution

are nanosatellites.

A fraction of the cost
of what has gone before

their roles can be many and varied.

It might be looking at the weather.

It might be looking at climate change.

It could be a new type of communication.

It could be listening
for identification signals

from vessels at sea.

There's a whole host of
opportunities looking down,

but increasingly also looking up.

But whatever their role,

they need to be able to withstand

the rigors of space flight.

Here, for example,

the resonant frequency of a
potential satellite component

is being tested.

Incredibly these vibrations
are initiating a force

on some parts of the
structure of up to 75 G.

Which is more than 25
times the force experienced

in a standard rocket launch.

The ability to access
shared facilities such as these

here at Catapult, is playing a crucial role

in developing new talent and expertise.

The seeds for this new space industry

were in many ways first
sown back in the late 1990s

when California
Polytechnic State University

and Stanford University
developed the CubeSat.

Based on a 10 centimeter cube

and able to be scaled up if needed,

it provided a standardized specification

that could accommodate off the shelf parts.

Suddenly a satellite was something

that could be built cheaply and quickly.

It was a total game changer

and it's the same specification
that's being used today.

In Finland astronomer
and journalist Jari Makinen

has taken this technological
accessibility a stage further.

Kitsat is fully functional
one unit CubeSat.

So just like many satellites that are

going around earth now on orbit,

but it has been made
with the parts that are

not so expensive as the
parts for the real satellite.

Although not destined for space,

this educational tool gives students

the ability to not only build a satellite,

but also to operate it
in a very similar way

to its space going counterparts.

And the most exciting thing
is flying it to stratosphere.

You are launching it to the edge of space

on a stratospheric balloon

and fly it up to the 30 kilometers or more.

You get telemetry down from the satellite,

you can chase the
payload when it is flying.

And of course, planning the mission.

Basically after this,

you can go right away
to build a real satellite

or operate a satellite
that is really in orbit.

Which is exactly what
Jari and his colleagues

at Arctic Astronautics and
Finish Technology Company hold

are now doing, with an
extraordinary experimental mission,

the launch of the world's
first wooden satellite.

This is basic research.

This is material science
mission just to see if wood

could be used as a material for spacecraft.

The project is known as WISA Woodsat

and it secured investment from UPM,

a leading plywood
manufacturer based in Finland

as well as assistance from
the European Space Agency.

One of the potential benefits
of using plywood panels

is that they don't interfere

with certain sensitive
monitoring equipment.

And in an industry where weight

is a major factor in launch costs,

its plywood construction
means that the WISA Woodsat

will weigh less than one kilogram

making it one of the lightest
CubeSats ever launched.

We are using plywood

that has been in a thermal vacuum,

meaning that it has been in
a temperature of 102 degrees

for a couple of days, and at
the same time in a vacuum.

So it is extremely, extremely
dry ply board after that.

The wooden panels are also coated

in a 100 nanometer protective
layer of Aluminum oxide

normally used on electronic circuit boards.

It is something again that nobody

has been thinking before.

But according to the tests
that has been now conducted

at ESTEC, at the Technology
Center of European Space Agency,

in Netherlands, they have
tested this kind of plywood

and it seems that it is even better

than most of carbon fiber or glass fiber

that is used actually right
now in space applications.

I do have here one copy of the satellite.

So this is almost final design.

And with this little camera,

we can then take pictures of the satellite.

And in fact, inside over there,

we have another camera as well.

That is taking pictures from
the inside of the satellite.

The satellite will also house sensors

to detect any moisture
that could be released

by the plywood once in space.

Using their experience from Kitsat,

a prototype has already been tested

using a stratospheric balloon.

Many of the traditional space engineers

said originally that, "You
are crazy, this is nothing,"

are now getting a little
bit more interested in this.

After all the results we
have now got from ISA

and all the research that we
have done ourselves as well.

This really may be a
interesting stuff in the future.

[lively upbeat music]

What makes nanosatellites so powerful

is their ability to work
together in groups,

known as constellations.

But projected numbers of
satellites are becoming so large

that these new groups are
often referred to as swarms.

So you might have a swarm of satellites

where basically some
satellites are generating power

to provide power to other satellites,

which are doing communications.

To provide communications
to other satellites,

which are basically doing
earth observation or something.

So that's one concept.

Typically the terminology
we use, constellation,

we literally mean the same
way as constellation of stars

and constellations aren't anything new

various GPS constellations
have been existing

for over 20 years.

But not on the scale that
we're talking about now

these are constellations which

aren't maybe a hundred spacecraft.

These are constellations
or planned constellations

of hundreds, potentially
thousands, potentially more.

This is about covering the globe,

basically with the equivalent
of internet broadband.

Different types of satellites

occupy different orbits.

For simplicity, these are often broken down

into three categories.

High earth orbit is used
by geostationary satellites

that need to stay constantly
above one place over the earth,

such as for telecommunication.

Medium earth orbit is used by navigation

and communication satellites,

satellites designed to monitor
a particular region on earth

and those involved in space observation.

And low earth orbit is most commonly used

for satellite imaging.

It's also where you'll find the
International Space Station

And it's here that the current and planned

nanosatellite constellations exist.

But none of this would be possible without

a cost effective way to launch them.

Five, four, three, two one.

[rocket blasting loudly]



there were only something
like 12 companies globally

who were actually
launching things in space.

And many of those belonged
to international governments

and organizations like the
European Space Agency.

Today we've got in excess
of 300 companies globally

trying to build launch
vehicles of some flavor.

Many of them have yet
to actually build a rocket.

Some of them have managed to build rockets

which have spectacularly
gone sideways as well as go up.

Other companies who have
been doing this for a while now

have actually managed to create a market

launching small rockets,

relatively small lifting hundreds kilos,

and have effectively started to compete

with the other companies
offering services out there.

And what this has done is

it's driven down the
cost of access to space.

Meaning instead of paying

tens of thousands of dollars per kilo,

you can now pay as little as 5,000.

Certain companies have
made space look really simple.

That's not necessarily true,
space is hard, is really hard.

It's all about speed, so
small rockets can't go that fast.

They don't have enough
thrust to go that fast.

So typically small rockets will put things

into the lower orbit,

the big rockets they can
put things into higher orbits.

But of course there's a different way

to put things into high orbits as well.

And that is to give whatever it is

you are launching into space,
its own small propulsion unit.

Do you wanna get there
fast which can be expensive

or do you want to get there
slowly which can be cheap?

Basic question is how fast
do you need to be there.

At Long Beach, California, Virgin Orbit,

are ramping up production
of their rocket LauncherOne.

Which instead of taking off vertically

is designed to be deployed horizontally

from the wing of a plane at 35,000 feet.

Meaning it is able to
avoid weather patterns

that can often delay a launch.

Measuring 70 feet long

this two stage rocket is
able to carry payloads,

weighing up to half a ton.

Back in 2012 we started the development

on our Newton family of engines.

We started building out
our manufacturing facility

with the intent that we were
gonna ramp up to something

like 15 to 20 rockets
in the next few years.

But the traditional way

rockets have been constructed in the past

meant that if they were to achieve

the level of production needed,

they and the rest of the
industry would have to change

the way rockets are made,
particularly at the business end,

known as the combustion chamber.

That process traditionally took over a year

to build one chamber,

and we need two of
them, one for each stage.

That represents a lead time
that we wanna look at reducing.

Now we still have to
maintain the high quality

'cause that's obviously
a very critical part

in us getting to orbit.

So what we've looked at is a
combination of manufacturing

that what we always
call hybrid manufacturing.

It's a combination of 3D printing.

In some cases, we're
actually doing that with lasers

and material to actually deposit metals

and others to actually form the structure.

But then we do a number of things

where we do subtractive
manufacturing or typical machining.

We will take that printed part

and actually machine it
down to get other finishes.

The combination of the two

allows us to dramatically bring down

not only the cost, but the time.

Things that used to take over a year,

we can bring down into the
realm of one or two months.

It can also bring down the weight

and it can bring down the
total cost of those parts.

The initial missions,

which have a 100% success rate

have all taken place at Mojave, California.

But the team are now developing

a more portable mission control setup,

enabling them to operate
from what they call space ports,

based at existing
runways all over the world.

When it came to choosing
a plane to launch from

one candidate stood
out as the natural choice.

When Boeing's design team drew a plan

for the giant 747
airliner back in the 1960s,

little could they have imagined

that over 40 years
after it's maiden flight,

it would be embarking on a whole new career

in the space industry.

Something that really was helpful for us

when we were investigating which aircrafts

to consider and use is that it's actually

designed to carry a fifth engine.

The fifth engine mount

was incorporated into the design

as a way to transport spare
engines around the world.

Although seldom used
for its original purpose.

This fifth pylon was perfectly positioned

to take the weight of a small rocket.

But there was also another advantage

it held over its more modern counterparts.

The 747 itself is not
a fly by wire aircraft

and that actually has a
good advantage for us.

Which means that
instead of the flight controls

going via a computer,

the pilot controls the aircraft manually.

As we perform this zoom
launch release maneuver,

we get to a very high
pitch altitude 32 1/2 degrees

with a rapidly decreasing air speed.

We don't want a computer to think that

we're in a situation we shouldn't be in

and take over for us.

Launch vehicles are
probably one of the most

challenging things we can
do in the space industry.

If you think about a launch vehicle,

it has to work perfectly for
minutes or at most hours.

Perfectly because you are
moving at incredibly high speeds.

We're not commanding it real time.

It's basically being
controlled by a computer.

And if it doesn't work perfectly,

we don't get our customers in the space.

We have incredibly smart
and dedicated people

working on this problem,

but I never assume that
everything will go perfectly.

So there's always a little
bit of a knot in my stomach.

Never take it for granted

because what we do is really, really hard,

but we are really, really good at it.

So on launch day, I am in the control room.

So I actually start my shift about 10 hours

before we get to our drop points.

So the team comes in and we
are working through making sure

the vehicle and the plane
and the ground systems

are all functioning and
are working as expected.

Once pre-flight and system checks

are completed, the rocket is fueled

and it's time to hand over
responsibility to the air crew.

There are two pilots
on board flying the plane

and two launch engineers that are

then responsible for monitoring the rocket.

And once then the whole system takes off

that crew has the full
command and control capability

of the launch platform
and the launch system.

Despite all the cutting edge technology

and autonomous rocket systems,

this part of the mission
still requires the skill,

experience and hand-to-eye
coordination of a human,

Chief Pilot, Eric Bippert.

I kind of feel like the field goal kicker

in American football at
the end of a big game.

The entire team has done
just all this amazing work

and then it's up to one person.

This is where Eric's
many years of experience

of precision flying with the US Air Force

and as a test pilot
really comes into its own.

He must position the aircraft
at exactly the right place

at the right time and at a speed so precise

that it cannot be allowed to
vary by more than one knot.

It's very hands on flying,
we cannot use the autopilot.

We cannot use the auto throttles.

There is a certain amount of pressure,

but to be totally honest
with the training that I've had

and once we get into execution,

I don't even think about that pressure.

I just think about doing what I need to do

in order to actually
release it successfully.

As a test pilot, I have a
lot of experience flying

different maneuvers
with very tight tolerances.

And this is right up to par with that.

After we make the inbound
turn to the launch point

it will accelerate from
Mach 0.7 to Mach 0.85.

So with about 25 seconds prior to drop

we'll go ahead and execute
that release maneuver

and that involves a
approximately a 2G pull up.

And we will basically pull
the nose up to 32 1/2 degrees.

So once we're all set
in all the parameters,

I'll call release, release, release.

And at that point the
co-pilot will reach up

to a button that's mounted above the dash

and press the actual release button.

You feel, and you immediately
know that it's released

because the aircraft will immediately start

this nice right hand big turn.

Five seconds after release,

there's a delay on the rocket

and it'll ignite after
that five second delay.

And it's something we can't
see because we're in that bank,

but you can actually hear it.

And it's this loud rumble

and it actually resonates within your body.

It's a really neat experience
and a great chance

just to look out the
window and we can see this

bright plume from the rocket
as it heads in the space.

And it's special, it's a
very special experience.

[bright upbeat music]

Although the proliferation
of launch vehicles

is helping to drive down costs.

Launching a satellite can be even cheaper

if you're prepared to rideshare.

However, this also has a drawback.

Chances are you won't be
dropped off in your ideal location.

And it could take many months

to reach your final destination.

Which for a small satellite
with an operational life

of between two and five years

represents a huge
percentage of wasted time.

On the shores of Lake Como in Italy,

one company D-Orbit,

has spent many years developing a solution.

Vehicles which can carry
multiple small satellites.

They are first launched by a rocket

and then transport each
of the individual satellites

to their precise desire location.

They call them ION Satellite Carriers.

You can consider the rocket as a bus,

delivering all the payload at
the terminals at the bus stop.

And we are like a taxi cab

taking all those passenger
on board our vehicle

and delivering each
one where it needs to be.

We know where we are starting from

and we know the
trajectory we have to follow.

So we know when we have
to ignite our propulsion system

and in which direction
to reach the perfect spot.

And once we are there,
the satellite is ejected out of,

from the ION Satellite.

If very small satellites,
so like the CubeSats.

There is a spring that is a
compressed inside the cube

and once the door opens
the energy of the springs

can be released and the
CubeSat is ejected outside.

If we are talking about a
bigger satellites in that case,

we have the mechanical system that detach

the satellite into orbit.

It was in 2020 that we launched

our first commercial mission
which was a great success.

And made a lot of noise in our community

because our solution is the
first space tug, as it's called.

This first proof of concept mission

precisely deployed 12
earth observation satellites.

Since then D-Orbit have
launched several more space tugs

as part of the ramping up of operations.

It's estimated that ION
Carrier can reduce the time

from when a satellite is launched

to it being operational by up to 85%.

It can also be used to
deploy constellations.

And the efficiency it brings
can reduce launch costs

of these operations by up to 40%.

It's still very much a process of evolution

as the team make use of
what they learn on each mission

to continually improve the performance

and capacity of their vehicles.

We are not just releasing satellites

with our ION Satellite Carrier.

We are also allow customer
to test their own experiments

directly onboard our ION.

Traditionally it has taken years

from construction of
a satellite to its launch.

Now it's possible to book a slot

and have your satellite
launched within just a few months.

Where we are at now
is really at the inception

of a completely new market
that follow different trends,

follow different rules.

The new market is global.

So European companies
have access to US market,

the US companies have
access to Asia market and so on.

It's going to grow so fast.

The average age of the
people in the company is 30,

probably even less than that.

When we started the company 10 years ago,

we were just two people

and in a small office with just two desk,

nobody was talking about
the new space economy.

And now we are a team,
I would say rockstar team

of 130 people in three countries.

With so many satellites being launched

it means that there will
also be a huge increase

in the amount of data
that is being collected.

And in most case you find out that like



It's like when you take
the picture with the phone,

you take 20 pictures
and then you only three

are saved in your phone all
the others are not good, right?

So pretty much the same.

Approximately 10% I think
of global CO2 emissions

comes from data centers.

The amount that we use data

and process data is because
of all those computers,

which need a lot of power
and then they need to be cooled.

And that uses a lot of energy.

We're collecting lots of data in space now

so why don't we export
this capability to space

where we have abundant free power, the sun,

and don't have the problem of cooling

in the same way that we do on the ground.

Currently many orbiting satellites

only have a brief window
to be able to download data

to ground stations where it
then needs to be processed.

Meaning it can often take hours

to receive vital information.

What we've decided to do
is try and solve this problem

by putting much more
computing capacity in space,

nearer to where the data's being collected.

And what that means is that

we can process that information immediately

and select the really important parts

and down link those really fast.

Smaller data packages
means that you can use

different mechanisms to get
the information back to earth,

such as sending messages
via geostationary satellites.

Another revolution that's
happening in space at the moment

is Internet of Things from Spacecraft,

which are enabled by
constellations of satellites,

which are able to pick up signals

from tiny devices on the ground.

Which are powered just by a battery

that can in the last several hours.

Now those support very small messages,

but on a regular basis.

We can also cross task other satellites.

So what I mean by that is

when satellites are
scanning in a wide mode,

they can look over a very broad area.

But if they're able to
spot something is amiss

you can then task it or another satellite

to zoom in on that area and
look for much more detail.

So that needs an immediate response cycle

to be able to do that.

So this is a real game
changer in terms of adding

capabilities to existing space networks.

And on some new satellites.

So as those to be launched by OroraTech,

there's the capability to do their

information sifting on board.

You can imagine like this,
we detect a fire on the ground.

A graphics card on the
satellite is processing the data.

And then we can immediately send that data,

the meta information down
via a satellite relay network

and have the information on the ground

within a couple of minutes.

The number of planned
satellites is expanding

at an extraordinary rate.

In October, 2021, Rwanda alone

announced its own mega constellation,

which could contain over 320,000.

But do satellites have the potential

to be the architects of their own demise?

Since Sputnik, the world's first satellite,

reached orbit in 1957,

and it has been followed
by over 11,000 others.

These in turn have contributed
to vast amounts of debris

otherwise known as space junk.

But the problem is that no
one knows for sure how much

as current technology is
a only able to track pieces

larger than 10 centimeters across.

[gentle upbeat music]

At the University of Texas in Austin,

Moriba Jah and his team are involved

in a groundbreaking project

aimed at plugging this
dangerous gap in our knowledge.

We believe that the sample size,

the trackable set is
roughly about 30,000 objects

ranging in size from a cell phone

all the way to the space station.

That's what we can
measure, what we can sample.

Based on that, we hypothesize
that the entire population

is probably about a million or so objects

going down in size to about
a millimeter, a speck of paint.

So it's like out of everything
we need to worry about.

We can only actually
measure about 1% we believe,

and of that 1% only about 4% of the 1%

are the things that actually work.

So it is crazy like the amount of trash

that's in earth orbit.

There's no stoplight,

so things are just criscrossing each other

at speeds up to 15 kilometers per second.

So 15 times the speed of a b*llet

and so when two objects meet

at the same place at the same time,

two objects can become tens
of thousands of smaller pieces.

Pieces that could potentially cause

catastrophic damage to the
International Space Station

and other satellites.

Even the smallest pieces
pose a significant danger.

A flick of paint traveling at


definitely penetrates a space suit,

causes physical harm to the astronaut,

might not k*ll the astronaut

but it's basically it's a bad day.

When astronauts go out
to do their space walks

the strategy is hope,

'cause we can't track these small things.

But what about the
things that we can track?

If I just look at what does
the US Space Command

have in its database?

And I'm just gonna click to show

all the debris and rocket bodies as well,

so that we can kind of see

what that space traffic map looks like.

Now, if I say well what is the

space traffic map from Russia,

that looks really different.

There's not a whole lot
of agreement or overlap.

In order to create an accessible

and comprehensive source of information.

Moriba developed a data sharing platform

known as AstriaGraph.

If you have any information
about stuff in space,

you can deposit it, we
ingest it, we evaluate it

and output the combination
of these opinions so that

people can get a better picture

of what's happening in space.

Moriba and his team are also working

on a way of identifying objects in space,

using photons of reflected sunlight

to create a digital fingerprint.

This is a model of a dead
satellite called TOPEX

orbiting the earth roughly at
around 800 kilometer altitude.

The photons that get
scattered look like all these dots.

If I just click on one,
it'll basically tell me

where did that light get reflected off of

and how many packets of light per second.

So this is saying I counted 8,566 photons,

in that one second for instance.

You can't manage what you don't know.

You don't know what you don't measure.

So measuring is the foundation,

my whole thing and part of the motto

that I have for my research program

is Latin it's [speaking
in foreign language]

which Lucy translates into

"Nothing hides, nothing remains hidden."

[tense upbeat music]

But a space debris database

can only be as good as the
information that's available.

There are systems in
place for detecting this,

but they're quite crude

and it involves radars on the ground.

Now these weren't even
designed for detecting debris

it was actually designed for
detecting incoming missiles.

We have information but the precision of it

provides a lot of room for error.

Putting dedicated debris

detecting telescopes into space

will be costly and time consuming.

But by using their navigation cameras

on the ION Satellite
Carriers, Simon and his team,

hope to provide a way of collecting new

and meaningful information about debris.

They have also created
a bot on deorbiting device,

which can be attached to future spacecraft

to avoid adding to the problem

after they are decommissioned.

[suspenseful music]

Before he joined D-Orbit back in 2018,

Simon Fellowes was the project manager

of an extraordinary experiment.

It involved leading scientists, engineers,

and a consortium of companies

and was led by the Surrey Space Center

at the University of Surrey in the UK.

Its mission was to test technologies

aimed at removing space debris.

All of which were housed

in a 150 kilogram satellite platform.

We shipped it over to America

where it was loaded onto a Dragon capsule

and delivered to the International
Space Station in a box.

We had a live link with the astronauts

as they were unpacking

and we were able to give them direction

and information about
which panel to take off next.

And just to be there while they did it.

Once assembled the platform

was placed into an air lock

and then deployed into
space by a robotic arm.

And after a certain amount of time

away from the International Space Station,

then it could turn on and start activating

all the different control
mechanisms on board.

So there's no propulsion
for orbit raising or changing,

but there was attitude control.

Because we're in space,
you only need a tiny force

to actually make a change

to the orientation of a spacecraft.

So they had magnet talkers,

which are electromagnets to bounce off

the earth and the moons magnetic poles,

and actually position the spacecraft

by using magnetic force.

But also reaction wheels,
which are like fly wheels

that spin up and spin down

and can actually control the
orientation of the spacecraft.

So the first of the tests
was the net experiment.

We shot out the CubeSat from the platform

and this was the target for the net.

So the CubeSat goes
away from the spacecraft

and at the set time
starts to open up panels

and it starts to inflate booms.

We were trying to copy
one meter cubed spacecraft,

and then the nets fired and
the net had these six motors

around the outside edge.

And at set time, the
motors actually draw a string

around the net to close the net.

So we captured it all on
camera, on the spacecraft

but actually getting the video down,

it took a couple of days

and every day rushed to work and said,

"Well, what happened?

We know the spacecraft is
okay, but did the net catch?"

After a couple of days,

we actually had the complete video.

And so seeing it for the
first time was incredible,

absolutely amazing.

And the are plans to scale it up.

And there's a very large spacecraft

about size of a double decker a bus.

It certainly was in mind
when the net was designed.

They also successfully tested

a visual based navigation system,

which used LiDAR in
combination with a camera.

And this is a really important technology

to demonstrate again in space,

because in order to catch something,

you first need to
understand how it's moving.

The next experiment was a harpoon.

Once again, a scaled down version

of a device intended for large satellites.

The harpoon was fired using cold gas.

We hit the target and everyone
gets very excited about that.

But actually there's a lot of information

that's learned even
from the tether dynamics,

the way the tether moved on orbit

for that short amount of time.

The final part of the mission involved

deploying a drag sail to
make the platform deorbit.

So it would burn up upon reentry

into the Earth's atmosphere.

We've got the stepping stones together now,

but if we could link things up.

So if you had the visual base navigation

somehow tracking an object.

So hitting the target which
is stationary is one thing,

but hitting a target that's moving

it's like a quantum leap.

[soft music]

[upbeat music]

This is the Mission Control team

who are hoping to make just such a leap.

With a debris removal craft called Elsa-d.

So Elsa stands for End-of-Life
Services by Astroscale

the D for demonstration.

What Elsa is doing is the end of life

where the debris spacecraft

has been prepared with a docking plate.

And that's a special magnetic docking plate

with markers on it.

So our services spacecraft will go up

it can work out the orientation
of the debris spacecraft

using those markers.

And it can maneuver itself to then capture

with the magnetic force
that propel spacecraft.

The mission reflects the growing

international nature of
the new space industry.

We have the Mission
Control team here in the UK.

So that's operations and ground segment.

And then in our Tokyo office,

we had another control center

with all these subsystem engineers.

So this is the team that
designed and built the spacecraft.

So the launch vehicle goes
up with quite a few other

spacecraft at the same time,

and they drop us off into the right orbit.

At that point, the on
onboard computer boots up,

it's just like switching your PC on,

goes through a set of
commands and procedures

that it runs turns on the transmitter.

And what we were doing was really waiting

to hear the first signals coming down

from our new spacecraft.

Everything that the whole
company had been working towards

for several years really was coming down

to that one moment, that first pass.

And I think that was a tremendous moment

for all of us when that happened.

When you see the telemetry
come in for the first time,

everything goes green and
you know the spacecraft is alive.

So what we have here is
a one to two scale model.

In other words, this is half
the size of Elsa-d currently.

So the actual spacecraft itself is about

the size of a large refrigerator.

This is the services spacecraft,

and this is the client spacecraft

that we use to simulate a piece of debris.

You can clearly see the
solar panels there on the side.

They provide power to the spacecraft

and we've got a number of sensors.

So the star trackers and
sun sensors on the spacecraft,

they allow the onboard computer to work out

what direction the spacecraft is facing.

If we need to rotate it,

there are spinning wheels
inside called reaction wheels.

Or if we need to move it faster,

which we will do for the capture.

Then we use thrusters at
the corners of the spacecraft

and they fire pulses of gas

and they can cause the spacecraft to rotate

or move as needed.

So the client spacecraft

will be pushed off from the servicer.

It will come out and it
will be left free floating.

It will be under control at this point.

So it has its own set of actuators on board

to keep it stabilized.

When we come to do the capture,

we'll be thrusting the
servicer closer to it.

So as it approaches magnetic capture,

we'll kick in just like that.

Yeah, you hold your breath.

All we see is telemetry
coming down at that point,

we have laser range finders.

So we know what the distance
to the client spacecraft is.

And you're watching that increase

and then your hoping
that it decreases again.

What you don't want to see is that line

just continuing as the
thing drifts off into space.

[cheering excitedly]

In August, 2020, this first part of

the mission was successfully completed.

We couldn't have asked for
a smoother demonstration.

I think everyone was very pleased

when that went off without a hitch,

a big sigh of relief and
then straight away really

we're preparing for the next phase.

The most crucial and challenging

part of the mission still lies ahead.

We're gonna make that debris spacecraft

start tumbling as a real
piece of debris would do.

And we're gonna maneuver
our servicers spacecraft

to capture that while it's tumbling.

Because if we're gonna
clean up the orbital highways,

so remove debris that's up there.

We're gonna need to be able to do that

autonomously in orbit.

So when we're looking at
a piece of tumbling debris,

there are visual cameras on board.

It will take a series of images of that,

down link it to the ground where we have

image processing software.

That allows us to work out the tumble

characteristics of the debris spacecraft,

and then upload a maneuver command

to start that what we call the dance.

So literally the service the spacecraft

dancing around the tumbling debris.

From that point on once
we've commanded that start

it's autonomously done onboard.

There's simply not enough time

for human beings on the ground

to see the telemetry react and command it.

The onboard computer will be calculating

several times a second
from all its sensors.

It will fuse all that
data and it will work out

how to keep firing each
of the eight thrusters

in order to maneuver itself round.

It's going to be a world
first when that happens,

because there has today
not been the docking of a

essentially uncooperative

and noncommunicative other spacecraft.

At the end of its mission,

Elsa-d will slow its orbit

causing it to reenter the
Earth's atmosphere and burn up.

But in the future, commercial
versions will release

their captured satellites
safely below the space station,

and then return multiple times

to collect other redundant satellites.

And in 10 years time this
should be a routine activity

that we'll be able to look
back on the decade previously

and say, yes, it all began with Elsa-d.

[gentle upbeat music]

As we expand our activities in space.

It's not just technology that's required.

We will also need rules.

One man who understands this more than most

is Professor Frans von der Dunk,

one of the world's leading
experts in space law.

The interesting question about space law

and in that sense it's basically part of

international law full stop.

Is that there is no single person or entity

in charge of making the law.

You should realize that outer space

basically like the high seas,

is an international area
where no single state

can determine the legal regime.

And in terms of enforcement,

you run up against the same problem

as with general international law,

that there is no overarching
enforcing authority.

At present, much of our activity in space

is governed by a treaty
negotiated at the United Nations

and ratified by over a hundred countries,

known as the Outer Space Treaty.

It dates back to 1967,

just 10 years after the launch of Sputnik.

And when the Cold w*r was at its height.

What is obviously very
conspicuously missing there

is the attention to potential commercial,

down to earth practical applications.

And that is probably the largest problem

that we are facing today in legal terms

for every business opportunity.

The most important point
is to have legal certainty

in advance, there's
also a growing realization

that private enterprise is of course only

interested ultimately in
its own financial wellbeing.

And part of what we are doing
right now as space lawyers

is actually trying to fill the
gap in the best possible way.

So create the best balance
between the bonafide

the interests of bonafide
the private entrepreneurs,

without destroying the
environment or the social coherence

or international solidarity
and things like that.

That's the task ahead of it.

At present nation states

are financially responsible
for any consequences

that arise from missions that are launched

from their territory.

So if the launched satellite

or the launched vehicle
crashes into a neighboring country

and causes a hundred
million dollars of damage,

the a hundred million
dollars of damage claim

will be put at the doorstep
of the government.

And not of the private entity or person.

And this of course means in turn that

any half smart government
which wants to allow

these things from
happening in the first place

has a national space law in place,

including a licensing system.

But even with a
technically rigorous license,

governments also expect space companies

to cover the financial risk.

Which means the space
insurance industry is also expanding.

But if it's your satellite that
is damaged by someone else,

how easy is it going to be?

If you need to make a claim.

If it's a big satellite,

which has been launched a year earlier,

you are probably have a pretty good chance

of identifying the launching state

and thereby the state which
has to pay for your damage.

But if that satellite has been fragmented

into 20 pieces five years ago,

and it's one of those
smaller pieces which hits you,

it might be very difficult to retrace

the path of that fragment
of the original satellite

and thereby identify
the actual liable state.

You probably need a major accident

to really make everyone aware

how important this issue is,

and how much better it is in the long run

to spend a little bit money up front,

to prevent these accidents from happening,

or at least bring down the
frequency with a major factor.

Pay a little bit extra upfront,

rather than be facing
those huge risks afterwards.

So if the satellite revolution

has already, started what comes next?

The are already project in place

to deliver small satellite
constellation to the moon.

As we have a global
positioning system on earth,

we are gonna need one on the moon

if we want to deploy
infrastructure on the moon

to get raw materials.

If we get to the moon and
we can mine ice on the moon,

we can use that ice to refill spacecraft.

We can also use it to basically

to provide water and oxygen for humans

who want to live in orbit of the earth.

And in orbit of the earth,

then we can start
doing exciting things like

in-orbit servicing and manufacturing.

The sky is literally open to us.

We can build then two space stations.

We can move also the
factories out to space.

There's a whole host of
products we can make in space.

And some of those products
will be used on earth,

and many of them will be used in space.

We don't build boats on deserts,

and then move the boats onto the sea.

It's so obvious that we
are going to build spaceship

in space directly, it's
just a matter of when.

And the answer to when is,

when there will be
someone ready to buy them.

The end of this decade,

we will have all the
capabilities that are required

to start the inter planetary economy.

But also unless we treat space carefully,

we're gonna be our own worst enemy.

My hope is that enrolling
the rest of humanity

in this vision of space
environmentalism I say,

"Hey, have you notice the night skies

and how there are more
dots moving across the sky,

these sorts of things?

Would you like to have a say in that?

Promote this idea of environmentalism to

maintain this environment
for many generations to come.

We're probably in the most exciting point

of human history right now,

I'm confident that by the end of a century,

humanity is gonna be looking at

extraterrestrial solar system.

We're about to see a very,
very rapid transformation

in terms of how we do
things and where we go.

[suspenseful upbeat music]

[gentle upbeat music]