The Swiss Are a Tidy People

Scientists at the Swiss space centre at EPFL, the federal institute for technology in Lausanne, want to send a "janitor satellite" into orbit, to sweep up debris and permanently remove it from orbit.

  UK Guardian

Get on it!

I wonder where they plan on putting it.

CleanSpace One would match its trajectory to that of its target using an EPFL-designed ultra-compact motor. When it reaches its target, it will grab the junk with a gripping claw. At speeds of up to 18,000mph, this will not be an easy task, especially if the junk is rotating. CleanSpace One will then head back to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, along with its attached junk.

Surely not one piece of junk per grab? That could get seriously expensive. I'm pretty sure the US will not contribute.

"We want to offer and sell a whole family of readymade systems, designed as sustainably as possible, that are able to de-orbit several different kinds of satellites," said Volker Gass, the Swiss space centre's director, in a statement on the EPFL website.

I'm telling you, the US will not be buying.

"Space agencies are increasingly finding it necessary to take into consideration and prepare for the elimination of the stuff they're sending into space. We want to be the pioneers in this area."

Okay, I get it. When it gets to be more expensive to dodge the shit than to clean it up, there'll be buyers. But, we'll probably be thinking about building our own cleaners by then.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.