Bagging Space Junk: TransAstra’s Inflatable Tech Takes Aim at Orbital Debris

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), September 10, 2025 – In space, orbital debris travels faster than a speeding bullet. To make the orbit around Earth safer for astronauts, satellites, and spacecraft, aerospace startup TransAstra Corporation developed an innovative debris removal technology. The Capture Bag system can trap objects of different shapes and sizes and even those that are tumbling, a common challenge in space debris removal. To advance the technology, the company is sending the system to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) for testing in an investigation sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory®.

“The beauty of this technology is that we can pretty much capture anything that fits into the bag, whether that is an asteroid or a satellite,” said TransAstra chief engineer Thibaud Talon. “The system is designed around an inflatable, pressurized structure. Gravity plays a big role in how the bag behaves, so it is critical to demonstrate how it works in actual microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment..”

For the investigation, the Capture Bag will be inflated inside Voyager Technologies’ Bishop Airlock on the space station. The airlock provides isolation from the atmosphere of the ISS cabin and can be depressurized to mimic conditions in space. The team will observe the bag’s deployment using four cameras in Bishop Airlock and one inside the Capture Bag system.

“We’ve tested Capture Bag extensively in vacuum conditions on the ground but deploying it in microgravity is the only way to be sure that we understand how this works,” said TransAstra CEO Joel Sercel.

The system is designed so that a carrier vehicle can take the bag to a target, open it, fly it over the target, and then close and cinch the bag. The bag can re-open as well, which allows the system to capture multiple pieces of debris during one flight. The captured items can then be safely de-orbited, placed in a higher “graveyard” orbit, or taken to an in-orbit repurposing station where a potential hazard can be turned into something useful. According to TransAstra, relocating debris to a repurposing facility could cost six times less than de-orbiting, use 80 percent less propellant, and clear a given orbit 40 percent faster.

“Space debris is a significant problem for spacefaring nations,” Sercel said. “It is one of the greatest hazards astronauts face on the way to and from the space station.”

Orbital debris travels at a velocity of nearly five miles per second, he explained. By contrast, a high-powered rifle bullet travels around half a mile per second. That means even particles as small as three-hundredths of an ounce can be very hazardous.

“We really need to get hold of this problem to keep space safely navigable,” Sercel added. “Given the growth of traffic in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles., within the next 10 years, we will see tens of thousands of objects there.”

Capture Bag comes in a variety of sizes, from as small as a coffee mug to big enough to capture a 10,000-ton asteroid the size of a small building. Additionally, the technology is much simpler to control than a robotic arm and less expensive.

“Large-scale, sustainable activities in space have to be affordable,” Sercel said. “A simple, inflatable bag can be much less expensive than comparable robotic arms.”

While this test is aimed at advancing a cost-effective way to dispose of old satellites and other debris, TransAstra ultimately plans to use the Capture Bag system to detect and capture asteroids for mining. Together, these sectors are estimated to have an annual total addressable market value of more than $1 billion by 2030.

Northrop Grumman’s next commercial resupply mission for NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:11 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 14, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. For additional information on ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations bringing value to humanity and driving a sustainable market economy in low Earth orbit, visit our website.

Download a high-resolution image for this release: TransAstra’s Capture Bag

Media Contact:
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org

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About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory: The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

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