Gathering Space Junk with a Giant Net

Jan-19-14 The Japanese space agency JAXA has announced plans to clear earth’s orbit of space junk by catching the debris in a giant magnetic net.

The space junk surrounding the earth is estimated to weigh 5500 tons, and some of the bits are large enough to endanger space vehicles and future missions. To clean up the mess, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has joined forces with a fishing equipment manufacturer to create a magnetic net able to gather the debris and then bring it into the earth’s orbit, where it will burn up.

JAXA has developed a test net that measures 2/3 of a mile long, and has plans to build larger versions able to capture entire rocket stages and other larger debris.

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