As per NASA data, there is around 3,000 tons of space debris in low-earth orbit. The debris comprises of old satellites, parts of rockets and bodies and other parts formed owing to the collision with other larger objects.

The debris is not safe for the International Space Station (ISS), satellites and other spacecrafts. Debris impact can damage satellite, as most of space debris travel about 22,370 miles per hour. Rather than declining, the problem is on rise as more number of satellites and spacecraft are being sent into space.

Experts have raised concerns by affirming that larger pieces of junk can cause more damage. The ISS and majority of other spacecrafts can bear the impact from smaller junk as they have the protection. But it shall be noted that there are more than 700,000 pieces that are quite big in size and currently in orbit.

Items that are bigger than four inches can be easily spotted, but the ones sized between 0.4 inches to 4 inches are quite difficult to identify. It has been suggested that a power laser can be used to blast the space debris.

There are chances that researchers at the Extreme Universe Space Observatory could install a powerful laser in the Japan section of the ISS to blast the space junk.

Toshikazu Ebisuzaki, an astrophysicist, said the EUSO telescope can be utilized in this project. EUSO has to detect space debris and rest of the task will be handled by the Coherent Amplification Network laser, which will then blast the debris.

Ebisuzaki said it is expected that this problem can be resolved. “The biggest obstacle is funding. There are some technical challenges, of course, but the main issue is getting funding for development and launch”, affirmed Ebisuzaki.