by Charlotte Stubbs
NASA has selected the winners in the NASA Orbital Alchemy Challenge dedicated to recycling large orbital space debris. With help from the global community, innovators proposed ideas for NASA to save time, money, and fuel by recycling orbital debris.
There are currently more than nine million metric tons of debris in orbit around Earth. Some of this debris is made up of potentially valuable resources including aluminum, titanium, steel, Kevlar, plastics, silicon, ceramics, residual fuels, and other volatile liquids and gases, which innovators had to consider when assessing recycling methods. If recycled in orbit, this mountain of aerospace-grade materials could have a value in the tens of billions of dollars for future in-space manufacturing.
The Orbital Alchemy Challenge asked participants to propose how they would recycle orbiting objects with the largest mass, typically greater than 1 metric ton. Theoretical examples included the 420-ton International Space Station (at the end of its operational life), upper stages of rockets, GPS satellites (nearly 4 metric tons), the Terra satellite (almost 5 metric tons), the Hubble Space Telescope (about 11 metric tons), and other large sections of rockets and satellites.
Submissions offered solutions at all technology readiness levels, from early-stage concepts to those with potential commercial viability by 2030. Winners received prizes totaling $46,000. In addition to prize money, winners received the opportunity to meet NASA personnel and explore their ideas further.
First Place: WidgetBlender LLC
Second Place: C-botics
Third Place:
- Crointel LLC
- Orbital Outpost X, Inc.
- University of Pennsylvania.
Honorable Mention:
- C-botics
- iUMTEK
- Intellectual Bounty
- CubeCab
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funded the challenge. TechConnect administered the challenge. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in STMD, managed the challenge. The program supports public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
Learn more about opportunities to participate in your space program via NASA prizes and challenges at: