Reg readers land on 'Binface' as name for UK space cleanup mission

The UK Space Agency asked for names for its Active Debris Removal Mission, and, of course, the Register readership didn't disappoint.

The Active Debris Removal Mission, led by ClearSpace UK and intended to remove a pair of UK-registered satellites from Low Earth Orbit (thus demonstrating Blighty's prowess when it comes to orbital litter picking), needs a name.

Let's face it, Active Debris Removal Mission hardly rolls off the tongue and, while engineers have long found ways to make meaning from acronyms (this writer has always been rather fond of PICNIC – Problem In Chair, Not In Computer), the UK Space Agency decided it needed a proper name.

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What could possibly go wrong? After all, it's not as if the great British public has form when it comes to picking interesting names (as the infamous Boaty McBoatface debacle demonstrated).

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SpaceyMcSpaceFace and Binny McBinFace therefore took an early lead in voting (for our American readers, a bin is a word for a trash can).

Other suggestions included a reference to the long-running British game show, 3-2-1, with "Dusty Bin". Dusty Bin was the show's booby prize, and it's good to know that some people are at least as old as this writer.

Another, clearly inspired by our own PARIS and LOHAN, was SHART – Satellite Harvesting And Re-entry Tug, and there was the delightful Project TIDY (Targeted Intervention for Debris in the Yard), which sounds a little too much like it might win.

We at The Register tend to steer clear of politics if possible, but "Prime Binister" tickled our fancy. As did a tribute to the UK's most famous second-place candidate: Baron Binface.

For readers unaware, a candidate named Count Binface, presenting as an intergalactic space warrior with a dustbin for a head, stood in the Clacton by-election in 2026. The candidate came second after almost ten thousand voters decided they preferred a novelty candidate to the incumbent, Nigel Farage.

Farage won by a substantial margin. However, Binface (and McBinface) have secured the popular vote for a satellite clean-up mission. At least as far as Register readers are concerned.

We asked Count Binface for thoughts on the mission, and will update this piece should a response be forthcoming. ®