Ever since we started to physically venture out into space, we have learned quite a lot about it. Many new discoveries and inventions were possible only because we travelled to that final frontier.

But, as a side effect, we also created a lot of mess up there, literally. As more and more satellites and other space missions were launched, the problem of space debris or junk started becoming a major headache.

Today, it's reaching a point where space junk could hinder our future space missions. This could even create safety hazards for any future space travellers. This is a big no-no as we are just starting with our endeavours in space.

Many space agencies around the world are hard at work trying to solve this problem. The European Space Agency, recently announced that they plan to test a tech that could pave the way for sustainable space junk collection.

Robotic Space Debris Collector

Although many plans have been proposed, some of the best ones involve pushing the space debris towards the Earth's atmosphere. That's because the atmosphere does the rest of the work by simply burning the debris up.

The ESA plans to the same. It recently approved a $133 million mission called ClearSpace-1. The name is quite appropriate if you ask me. It involves sending a robotic probe to Earth's orbit.

It would then manoeuvre its way to Vespa, a 100 kg piece of space junk that was left behind by the ESA's Vega launcher. Then, it would use its four arms to grab Vespa and drag it towards the atmosphere were both would be incinerated.

Of course, logic dictates that this cannot be done for every single piece of debris up there, which are thousands in number. This is more of a demonstration of the technology required to clear up space debris.

The ideal way would be to send a slew of debris collectors (or pushers) that would deal with all the space debris floating about aimlessly. They could be stationed there permanently for any future space junk as well.