Machine learning to remove space debris

Researchers are using machine learning algorithms trained on simulations of space debris as part of a key project. With more than 34,000 pieces of junk orbiting around the Earth, their removal is becoming a matter of safety. Earlier this month an old Soviet Parus navigation satellite and a Chinese ChangZheng-4c rocket were involved in a near miss and in September the International Space Station conducted a manoeuvre to avoid a possible collision with an unknown piece of space debris. A project led by ClearSpace-1, a spin off from research lab EPFL in Zurich, will recover the now obsolete Vespa Upper Part, a payload adapter orbiting 660km above the Earth that was once part of the European Space Agency's Vega rocket. The mission, set for 2025, aims to ensure that it re-enters the atmosphere and burns up in a controlled way.