<p>This is plausible, and might even be a good idea if used right.</p>

<p>First off, NASA has been working on plans for an asteroid redirect mission, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_Redirect_Mission">ARM</a>. While it remains to be seen whether this will be approved, and they plan to put it into lunar orbit, this is a hypothetical scenario anyways so I'll ignore that.</p>

<p>Now, putting an asteroid into earth orbit is a little bit of a difficult subject. Sure, you could do it, but messing up would net you a whole lot of problems. I presume it would have to go into high earth orbit if it goes into orbit at all. </p>

<p>This rules out using the asteroid directly like a satellite, but that would have been impractical even if it was sanctioned by everyone with enough influence to have an opinion on earth. From there the satellite would be best used as a base of operations, from which you could send drones to collect junk and keep refueling stations. I'd also include a telescope or two, but that's personal preference.</p>

<p>If you want a list of targets though, <a href="http://stuffin.space/?search=">here</a> would be a good place to look.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T18:02:58.917Z
So, these drones, how would they work? They would need to transfer from HEO to LEO, changing inclination, and LAN (big delta V operations), then match orbit to the junk, and then... what?
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T16:41:49.473Z
2016-03-03T16:46:54.967Z
2016-03-03T16:46:54.967Z
Pulchritude
<p>Low Earth Orbital space is a very big volume. And even though there are lots of pieces of junk, they are distributed throughout this large volume.</p>

<p>The pieces of junk are all move at orbital velocity. That means they are moving 8 times faster than a bullet. To catch a piece of orbital junk you would need to match your orbit to the junk, to get your relative velocity down to close to zero. That would require lots and lots of fuel.</p>

<p>Now I'm not sure how having an asteroid helps here. Perhaps you imagine the junk hitting the asteroid, and being destroyed.  The result of junk hitting the asteroid would be a shower of small fragments - not great.</p>

<p>You would still have the problem steering the asteroid into a meeting with a piece of junk. Asteroids are big and heavy and hard to manoeuver, you would need fuel, and lots of it.</p>

<p>In short this does not seem to be a feasible solution to the very real problem of space junk.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T18:00:18.543Z
2016-03-03T18:00:18.543Z
James K
<p>We all have heard about the problem with space junk in low earth orbit. NASA has a plan to put an asteroid in orbit around the moon. Would it be possible to equip propulsion systems onto an asteroid in order to maneuver it into an elliptical orbit around the earth, with the goal of collecting this junk?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T16:17:24.023Z
How do you propose the asteroid collects this junk? By Gravity?
Also this question is probably more suitable to the http://space.stackexchange.com/ community.
Dean
<orbit><earth><asteroids><orbital-migration>
Would it be possible to equip an asteroid to collect space junk in Earth's orbit?
user109880
# Would it be possible to equip an asteroid to collect space junk in Earth's orbit?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-03)

We all have heard about the problem with space junk in low earth orbit. NASA has a plan to put an asteroid in orbit around the moon. Would it be possible to equip propulsion systems onto an asteroid in order to maneuver it into an elliptical orbit around the earth, with the goal of collecting this junk?

**Tags:** orbit, earth, asteroids, orbital-migration

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: How do you propose the asteroid collects this junk? By Gravity? Also this question is probably more suitable to the http://space.stackexchange.com/ community.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-03-03. Score: 5

This is plausible, and might even be a good idea if used right.

First off, NASA has been working on plans for an asteroid redirect mission, called [ARM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_Redirect_Mission). While it remains to be seen whether this will be approved, and they plan to put it into lunar orbit, this is a hypothetical scenario anyways so I'll ignore that.

Now, putting an asteroid into earth orbit is a little bit of a difficult subject. Sure, you could do it, but messing up would net you a whole lot of problems. I presume it would have to go into high earth orbit if it goes into orbit at all.

This rules out using the asteroid directly like a satellite, but that would have been impractical even if it was sanctioned by everyone with enough influence to have an opinion on earth. From there the satellite would be best used as a base of operations, from which you could send drones to collect junk and keep refueling stations. I'd also include a telescope or two, but that's personal preference.

If you want a list of targets though, [here](http://stuffin.space/?search=) would be a good place to look.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: So, these drones, how would they work? They would need to transfer from HEO to LEO, changing inclination, and LAN (big delta V operations), then match orbit to the junk, and then... what?  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-03-03. Score: 0

Low Earth Orbital space is a very big volume. And even though there are lots of pieces of junk, they are distributed throughout this large volume.

The pieces of junk are all move at orbital velocity. That means they are moving 8 times faster than a bullet. To catch a piece of orbital junk you would need to match your orbit to the junk, to get your relative velocity down to close to zero. That would require lots and lots of fuel.

Now I'm not sure how having an asteroid helps here. Perhaps you imagine the junk hitting the asteroid, and being destroyed. The result of junk hitting the asteroid would be a shower of small fragments - not great.

You would still have the problem steering the asteroid into a meeting with a piece of junk. Asteroids are big and heavy and hard to manoeuver, you would need fuel, and lots of it.

In short this does not seem to be a feasible solution to the very real problem of space junk.


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