Japan's plan to collect space garbage with... a giant fishing net?

The clutter of broken satellites and abandoned rockets in our orbit is reaching a "tipping point," say scientists. Luckily, the Japanese have a solution

This computer generated graphic shows the build-up of tracked orbital debris, such as non-functional satellites, that currently orbits the Earth.
(Image credit: NASA)

The amount of space garbage in Earth's orbit is getting out of control, warns the U.S. Defense Department, noting that the build-up of burnt-out satellites, rocket debris, and missile fragments has reached a "tipping point" and threatens to destroy one of our functioning suborbital satellites. Here, a quick guide to our space junk problem, and the unusual solution proposed by Japan:

How much junk, exactly, is orbiting the Earth?

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