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‘Space junk’ collector to clean up the space

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TOKYO: Japan will launch a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station, carrying a ‘space junk’ collector that was made with the help of a fishnet company.


The vessel, dubbed “Kounotori” (stork in Japanese), will blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima attached to an H-IIB rocket.


Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are experimenting with a tether to pull junk out of orbit around Earth, clearing up tonnes of space clutter including cast-off equipment from old satellites and pieces of rocket.


More than 50 years of human space exploration since the Soviet-launched Sputnik satellite in 1957 has produced this hazardous belt of orbiting debris.


There are estimated to be more than 100 million pieces in orbit, posing a growing threat to future space exploration, scientists say.


Researchers are using a so-called electrodynamic tether made from thin wires of stainless steel and aluminium. — AFP


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