A Japanese company announced on Monday that it had successfully launched a probe it said was the first spacecraft with a mission to investigate debris from Earth’s orbit, which has become increasingly abundant and potentially dangerous in recent years, AFP and Agerpres reported.

The mission “Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan” (Adras-J) is to find and study the remnants of the Japanese H-IIA rocket, which has been floating in space for 15 years, the representatives of the private Japanese company Astroscale explained.

The Japanese probe was launched at 14:52 GMT from New Zealand on Sunday. Astroscale “has managed to establish contact (…) and is ready to start work”, said the coordinator of this project Eijiro Atarashi, quoted in the press release of the Japanese company.

The exact orbital position of the bus-sized H-IIA upper stage launched by the Japan Space Agency (JAXA) in 2009 is unknown. But its approximate location will be determined using monitoring data from Earth.

Adras-J will come “to a safe distance” and then collect images to assess the movement and condition of the former Japanese missile. This spacecraft was selected for the first phase of JAXA’s program to remove large space debris of Japanese origin in cooperation with the private sector.

One solution to the problem of space debris sounds like science fiction

Space debris, such as spent satellites, rocket debris, and debris from collisions, has been accumulating in Earth’s orbit since the dawn of the space age, and the phenomenon has accelerated in recent decades.

The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that there are approximately 1 million pieces of satellite and rocket debris orbiting our planet that are larger than one centimeter in diameter and are large enough to “disable a spacecraft.” .

To “deactivate” space, one potential solution could be the use of a laser beam capable of pushing the debris into a new orbit, where a space “debugger” would collect it with the help of a magnet.

Japan successfully launched its new H3 heavy launcher on Saturday after two initial failures last year. And in January, Japan became the fifth country in the world to place a lander on the moon with a robotic SLIM probe.