Dec 29, 2018 1:00 AM

Here's how we can put all of humanity's space debris to good use

Tidying up our extraplanetary mess is as important a task as cleaning up the Earth. If we don't, it will become increasingly hard to launch rockets into space

The Earth is surrounded by 29,000 pieces of space debris, defined as objects larger than 10cm, that come from broken rockets and satellites. And they are hazardous. This waste can damage satellites through collisions, which will of course create even more space debris, as well as disrupting our digital communications. And the problem will only grow. The more debris there is, the more collisions there will be, leading, of course, to more debris.

In 2019, Studio Roosegaarde will continue to explore ways of using space debris as a resource, through our Space Waste Lab project, which will combine science with performance through live tracking real-time space-waste data. The performances will connect the Earth with space waste through vertical lines of LED lights, highlighting the presence of space waste in a spectacular visual installation.

We will also announce results of our ongoing research and education program at a conference supported by researchers from the European Space Agency and Nasa, and kick off the next stage of the project, investigating how we will be able to clean space and how can we use space waste as potential ingredient for new creativity.

Nations and private enterprise are already beginning to address the problem in practical ways. Luxembourg is planning a startup sector that will harvest and recycle space waste. CisLunar Industries, which is based there, plans to begin reprocessing space debris into metals for reuse in new space equipment.

The company will develop and operate a group of orbital platforms called “space foundries” that will recycle space debris and non-functioning spacecraft to produce refined metal and salvaged components. It will achieve its long-term objectives through a steady progression: from Earth-side prototype to a small-scale space foundry in low-Earth orbit to a full-scale foundry in geosynchronous orbit in under ten years.

And recycling will just be the start. At the Space Waste Lab we are exploring ways we might generate energy from controlled collisions between pieces of space debris that are travelling at 28,000 km per hour. We are looking into pulling space debris through the Earth’s atmosphere so that it burns up.

Space waste is an issue that we need to start tackling now. In 2019 we will be using data, research and creativity to find ways of turning the problem into a resource that will benefit the whole planet – and space as well.

Daan Roosegaarde is a Dutch artist and innovator