# Giant robotic claws will grab dead satellites in space

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/giant-robotic-claws-will-grab-dead-satellites-in-space/
- Published: 2026-10-25T12:54:07+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-25T13:08:48+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/giant-robotic-claws-grab-dead-satellites-space
- Topics: Business, Markets, Space, Technology, UK, World

## Key points

- The UK is funding an $81 million satellite-clean-up mission.
- ClearSpace UK plans to capture and dispose of two defunct satellites.
- The spacecraft is designed for reuse after its 2029 launch.

## Summary

The UK has awarded ClearSpace UK about $81 million to develop a spacecraft that will remove dead satellites from orbit using robotic capture equipment. The project matters because growing amounts of orbital debris could collide with working spacecraft, and the mission aims to show that one vehicle can carry out repeated clean-ups.

The spacecraft is targeted for launch in 2029 from SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, with an initial task of removing two defunct UK-registered satellites by 2032. It is designed to secure each satellite, lower its orbit and release it so atmospheric drag brings it back into the atmosphere to burn up; the cleanup craft may be refuelled and reused. The European Space Agency reported about 47,140 regularly tracked objects in orbit as of 14 October 2026, including active satellites, inactive spacecraft, rocket bodies and debris.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.