The US firm behind the idea has just been awarded a $600,000 development grant from Nasa.

Dr Bob Forward describes why his Seattle company is empoying a Kilmarnock lace maker

Dr Bob Forward, chief scientist with Seattle-based Tether Unlimited, told BBC News Online: "We searched the entire USA and couldn't find anyone to make the special net structure we need - it's like an extremely long and narrow fishing net but made of aluminium wire."

The Nasa grant is towards building a prototype and testing it in flight, though another $3.5 million is needed.

Multi-million dollar business

The speed of the satellite is sapped by the tether

However, Forward believes that the wires are the best way of decommissioning satellites and given that between 100 and 200 satellites are launched each year, the business could be worth tens of millions of dollars annually.

"Iridium [the satellite telecommunications company] have had seven satellites become inoperative already," says Forward. "They said to us, where were you guys five years ago when we needed you."

Dead satellites can orbit the Earth for centuries creating dangerous space junk which could collide with newly-launched spacecraft. Unused fuel on some satellites has caused them to explode into many fragments making the problem even worse.

Satellite burn up

Dr Forward explains how the Terminator Tether is tested and operated

But the wire ropes, called Terminator Tethers, are a simple way to drag satellites down out of orbit and cause them to burn up in the atmosphere. They also weigh as little as one per cent of the satellite mass, leaving more payload room.

The Terminator Tether periodically checks whether its host is still working. If it is not, it asks ground control for instructions. If the order is to abort, then a spring pushes a weight out of the craft and this drags a five kilometre wire rope downwards.

The motion of the satellite drags the metal tether through the Earth's magnetic field, generating an electric current up to one amp and a voltage of around 1000 volts. This heats the wire and the energy is then lost to space. By taking energy from the satellite, the tether causes it to drop out of orbit.

Tethers Unlimited believe they will found a multimillion dollar business

Satellites in the highest orbits will take a few months to burn up, lower ones a few weeks. The current method of de-orbiting is to fire on-board rockets, but if the satellite power system dies it is left helpless in orbit.

Testing the Terminator

The Terminator Tether will be tested from one of the upper stages of a Russian rocket about 18 months after the required investment is in place.