China deems blasting space junk with a laser station feasible

NASA estimates that millions of fragments of man-made debris are zipping in Earth's orbit at more than 17,500 miles per hour. At such velocities, even a tiny piece of junk like a nut or bolt can wreak havoc on satellite infrastructure as well as threaten the lives of astronauts. Scientists at the Air Force Engineering University in China completed a computer simulation that found it feasible to blast orbiting space junk with space-based lasers. The simulation confirms this concept can work by calculating how long they would have to target debris and the best angles to do so.