New satellites to clean space debris
Scientists in Switzerland are working on a project designed to make space safer for satellites orbiting the Earth.
A team of scientists at the Swiss Space Centre is developing a new generation of satellites specially designed to clean up space debris.
The project, called CleanSpace One, is hoping to make space safer.
The satellites share space with around 16,000 pieces of debris surrounding Earth, left over from their predecessors and from minor collisions.
There are more than 700 operational satellites orbiting our planet, emitting the signals for our phones, television sets and GPS. However, collisions are becoming more and more frequent, putting the satellites themselves at risk and even the lives of astronauts.
Al Jazeera’s Nick Clark explains.