There are over 100 million pieces of junk floating around the Earth's orbit, which destroy telecommunications network. Now, Japan recently launched a ship that would address this problem.
The cargo ship that Japan launched will use an innovative half mile-long magnetic tether that can slow down the debris and pull them out of orbit, BBC reported. The tether, which is made out of steel wire and aluminium strands, was developed by a fishing net company that has been around for 106 years.
The fishing company is called Nitto Seimo Co. It bean making their minnow nets ever since 1910. The company also invented a knotless net machine way back 15 years ago.
The junk floating around Earth came from old satellites, used equipment, rocket parts, and tools. Most of these objects move as fast as 28,000 km/h. The pieces of debris could hit a telecommunications network equipment functioning and orbiting around the world.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the cargo ship from their Tanegishima Space Center last Friday, Tech Times reported. Katsuya Suzuki, the company engineer, said the tether has fishnet planting technology. The spacecraft is called Kountori, which is Japanese for Stork. It is now headed to the International Space Station.
This technology is part of the international initiative, which advocates for astronauts well being. It is expected to remove space junk, protect space stations, ensure the safety of communications satellite, and understand weather patterns.
The tether is 2,300 feet, but still requires 16,400 to 32,800 feet to solve the issue of Junk in the orbit. According to researchers, the innovative technology will create enough energy to redirect an object's orbit. The tether will then push it the Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up.
The many pieces of junk floating around the Earths orbit have been accumulated for 50 years due to human space exploration. The first spacecraft launched was the Soviet's Sputnik back in 1957. Satellite collisions and anti-satellite weapons testing have contributed to the junk floating across Earth's orbit.
Besides the tether junk collector, there were prior ideas like sweeping, harpooning, dragging the junk, or even lassoing.