If the growing calls and concern for taking care of our environment are to be realized, then we need to include outer space in this conversation. Although it is a landscape that is accessible by a select group of trained individuals and organizations, the consequence of cluttering outer space with our man-made inventions impacts us all. Depending on their orbital position, space debris can take a few or hundreds of years to re-enter the atmosphere. The issue lies in when the debris doesn’t burn up when it re-enters and reaches the ground, which in this case the still in-tact debris becomes hazardous to Earth’s environment. While space debris is commonly the result of satellites colliding with each other or anti-satellite tests, the fact that there are more objects than ever floating around in Earth’s orbit increases the likelihood of space debris re-entering and hitting a person. While there are many different estimates, most state that there is a 1-in-10,000 chance of any person being hit, anywhere in the world. Since the current number of objects floating in Earth’s orbit is in the 100 trillion figure, a recycling space station is necessary to capture, deorbit, and reuse the space debris.
