A Space Laser to Destroy Space Junk – It’s Not Star Wars

Space Junk is a growing problem.  Even though there is a lot of room in low Earth orbit, it’s estimated that 3,000 tons of space debris is floating around at different altitudes and speeds, posing a significant threat to present and future orbital infrastructure.  The number of objects classed as space junk doubled in 2014 to 4000 individual pieces, mostly due to collisions between objects already in space.  Most of this space junk is old derelict satellites and rocket bodies and engines leftover from 50 years of space exploration.  Because of the wide variety of altitudes, trajectories, and speeds, it can...