Chinese plan to destroy space debris using an orbital laser

Developed countries are trying to solve the problem of space debris, which formed around the Earth's orbit. The Japanese, for example, tried to collect it, and the Americans throw off the Earth's orbit. The Chinese have come up with a more prosaic and effective way.

What is the essence of

Chinese scientists came up with a brilliant idea - to set fire to litter with a laser. They plan to build an orbital laser station, which will shoot at the wreckage, destroying or knocking them out of orbit. So, the laser will beat the debris up to 4 inches with a power of 20 photon pulses per second for two minutes.

There is one problem

The plan, of course, is excellent, but a couple of important issues remain. Who will build this station? Where will it be located? How will other states react to this? This issue must be solved on the international scene, so that some Trump does not start shouting that his laser is longer.

Why are you all boiling at all?

Now, in space orbit, there are space stations and artificial satellites, which can fall if space debris touches them. On Earth's orbit, about 20 thousand debris the size of a tennis ball and 500 thousand smaller ones. The problem is that even a piece of metal the size of less than a centimeter could make a dent in 7 millimeters on the body of the ISS.

Source: Engadget