Japan is looking for ways to deal with space debris. Since the space age began, space junk has been accumulating, consisting of satellites, rocket fragments, and debris from collisions. The increase in the number of satellites launched in recent years makes this area even more crowded. There are ongoing projects to collect these garbage so that it does not cause major problems in the future.
There are over a million space debris in Earth orbit
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are about one million pieces of debris larger than 10 centimeters in Earth’s orbit. Toru Yamamoto, a researcher with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), plans to use a laser beam to get rid of space debris, according to Phys Org. The laser beam will vaporize them and create a pulse of energy that will push the object into a new orbit.
With the irradiating laser, there will be no need to touch any debris. This laser will be able to move space debris at about 7.5 kilometers per second. Currently the project is experimental. But they hope to test the idea in space by spring 2025.
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