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750,000 Pieces of Junk Circle Earth. This Firm Wants to Start Clearing It

Race is on to prevent ‘Kessler effect’ space-debris spiral
Japan-based firm to use magnet to ‘dock’ orbiting junk

Earth’s orbit is cluttered with millions of pieces of debris, but a team of engineers has a plan to clean up.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Hiromi Horie

February 13, 2019 at 8:00 PM UTC

Updated on

February 14, 2019 at 12:00 PM UTC

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As the satellite industry booms, a Japan-based venture is working to prevent space-debris collisions that could paralyze transport, defense and telecommunications systems.

Astroscale Holdings Inc. is preparing to rendezvous with, capture and dock a test satellite early next year to show how its technology can help clear orbiting junk, Miki Ito, 36, general manager of Astroscale’s Japan unit, said in an interview.