The Incognito
A garbage truck in the sky. The Incognito is a spacecraft concept for collecting and disposing of orbital debris, from inventor John Arwood, whose background is in waste collection and disposal. The design is patent pending.
It is designed as a self-sustaining orbital craft with ion thrusters for high fuel efficiency, so it would need to refuel less often and could haul heavier loads over greater distances. A nuclear reactor would supply main power, with solar cells around the exterior as backup.
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Protection From Above
Maneuverability:
The Incognito has thrusters all across its exterior, so it can make rapid, controlled maneuvers. That agility is meant for long missions in both time and distance — expeditions, research assignments, and the close work of approaching and moving large objects. The extra thrust is also meant for hauling huge objects over long distances.
Concealed
Exploration
A Self-Sustaining Orbital Debris-Collection Craft
Electromagnetic Propulsion
With an ion propulsion system, The Incognito would need far less fuel than a chemical stage for the same kind of in-space work. The aim is a cost- and resource-efficient collection craft, not a launch vehicle. Ion thrusters are for work already in orbit.
Nuclear Powered Reactor
Fuel efficiency is only part of the design. The Incognito is also described as a nearly fully self-sustaining system, built for durability on long missions, with a nuclear reactor as its main power source.
Solar Back-Up
Solar cells surrounding the exterior are there for support, especially on missions that are expected to haul space debris larger than the vehicle itself. Power distribution can change: solar power can run the smaller thrusters on the sides, while the main power source drives the larger rear thrusters.
Asteroid Mining
Asteroid mining would initially require in-space assembly, plus two other spacecraft in the Incognito series. After assembly and connection of The Incognito with those later spacecraft, mining S-type asteroids — which can carry nickel, cobalt, and more valuable metals such as gold, platinum, and rhodium — would be possible, and inexpensive compared with similar missions.
How ion propulsion works
An ion thruster produces thrust by turning a propellant into ions and accelerating those ions with electric fields. In a common design, a high-energy electron collides with a neutral propellant atom, knocks electrons loose, and leaves a positively charged ion. The mixture of ions and electrons is a plasma: it behaves in some ways like a gas, but it can be guided by electric and magnetic fields.
A working ion-propulsion system is more than the thruster. A power processing unit converts electricity from a power source — typically solar cells, or a nuclear source — into the voltages and currents the thruster needs. A propellant management system delivers that propellant in a controlled way, often stepping it down from high tank pressure to a carefully metered flow. A digital control and interface unit monitors the system and talks to the spacecraft computer.
Ion thrusters use very little propellant compared with chemical rockets, and they can run for a long time. Their thrust at any given moment is low, which is why they are used in space, not to lift a vehicle off the pad. That long, efficient push is what makes them a fit for a debris-collection craft that must rendezvous, haul, and keep working without constant refueling. NASA has flown ion propulsion on missions such as Dawn; that heritage is general background, not a claim that The Incognito's hardware has been built or tested by NASA.
Built for the work
The Incognito is proposed for:
- Hauling and large space-debris collection
- Small-debris cleanup, with the right add-ons
- Exploratory and research missions
- A versatile platform with defense applications available to qualified government partners on request
The strongest feature is versatility. With in-space add-on installation, The Incognito could change, switch, and attach different components for different jobs — whether the assignment is debris collection, research, or exploration.
Read the full concept overview, The Incognito: A Garbage Truck in the Sky, or go to Our Purpose, Our Specs, the FAQ, and Contact John.
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