Space debris is nothing we should take lightly. It’s a serious problem that astronomers and other scientists had been thinking to solve for many years.
But there is indeed hope that the problem of space debris will go away. That hope comes from the Space Force. According to SpaceNews.com, the space service is considering funding technologies as a measure for getting rid of space debris.
One of the goals of the Space Force is now to buy services for removing debris, and it shall focus on the private sector.
Even small pieces of space debris are dangerous
We’re all tempted to worry only about some parts of space debris, such as the ones at least as big as a basketball. But unfortunately, even very small parts are dangerous.
Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson explains, as quoted by SpaceNews.com:
There are at least 10 times as many smaller objects in orbit that we cannot reliably track. And yet those smaller bits of debris pose as much or greater risk to our satellites as the larger pieces.
SpaceWERX is the technology arm of the Space Force, and it’s running the Orbital Prime program. The program aims at overcoming the problem of space debris.
Thompson also said, as quoted by SpaceNews.com:
Our goal through Orbital Prime is to partner with innovative minds in industry, academia and research institutions to advance and apply state of the art technology and operating concepts in the areas of debris mitigation and removal.
Space debris can cause a lot of trouble if it’s located in the Earth’s orbit. It can damage spacecraft and satellites that fly nearby, meaning that it can suddenly make it risky for astronomers to engage in space travel.
Hopefully, everything will be ok, as astronomers have gears that are advanced enough to deal with many kinds of unwanted scenarios.