Researchers at the Electro Optic Systems company in Australia are working on a way to track the space junk and then manipulate its movement using a laser system.
There are hundreds of thousands of space junk objects caught in the orbit of our planet threatening the satellites that control global telecommunications networks.
Researchers at the Electro Optic Systems company in Australia are working on a way to track the space junk and then manipulate its movement using a laser system.
The concern is that the space junk, which ranges in size, could hit a satellite or spacecraft and cause some serious damage.
This damage might break pieces off of existing satellites, creating even more space junk floating around posing a threat to the other expensive equipment that has been sent into orbit.
An estimate from Ben Greene, the chief executive of Electro Optic Systems says there are around 20 thousand pieces of space junk larger than the size of a football.
Of the future laser system Greene is quoted as saying: “Even the smallest amount of light puts pressure on the surface it lands on. The mid-range of objects between 5cm and 10cm are very amenable to moving around with light, and they present 90% of the threat for satellites.”
The laser system project is estimated to be 10 to 20 years away with the company’s next steps to develop the lasers that would move the objects closer to Earth’s atmosphere where they would disintegrate.
