China has come up with the idea to get rid of the space debris blanketing Earth by using giant orbital lasers.
Scientists at the Air Force Engineering University in Xi'an have described in a paper how the space-based lasers can turn large space debris into smaller bits and render them comparatively less dangerous.
Space debris is a cause for concern for experts as there are more than 20,000 trackable objects present in the space which can lead to spacecraft or satellite collision. These objects include used rockets, old satellites and pieces of other man-made objects.
More than 100 million pieces of orbital debris surround Earth, measuring less than a centimetre, according to NASA's estimation.
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A stimulation of a laser station was conducted by a cohort of Chinese scientists and they concluded that this method would be an effective way to clean the debris from Earth's orbit.
"(The simulation) provides (the) necessary theoretical basis for the deployment of (a) space-based laser station and the further application of space debris removal by using space-based laser," according to the scientists, Science Direct revealed.
"The velocity variation of the space debris ablating by the space-based laser station was analysed, and the orbit manoeuvre of the space debris irradiated by laser station was modelled and studied. It provides the necessary theoretical basis for the deployment of space-based laser station and the further application of space debris removal by using space-based laser," the scientists stated.
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Future space missions are in serious danger because of high-speed debris. A Chinese satellite was allowed to shatter to pieces in a test of anti-satellite technology in 2007.
Just one month later a Russian rocket body exploded accidentally, scattering more than 1,000 pieces of space debris.
"Any of these debris has the potential for seriously disrupting or terminating the mission of operational spacecraft in low Earth orbit," Nicholas Johnson, the chief scientist for Orbital Debris, was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.
"This satellite break-up represents the most prolific and serious fragmentation in the course of 50 years of space operations," Johnson concluded.
