International Space Station may get laser cannon to vaporize orbital debris

The International Space Station (ISS) has been forced to alter trajectory numerous times over the years, but not for any scientific of logistical reason — it was necessary to avoid collisions with space junk. The day of simply stepping out of the way could be coming to an end, though. Researchers from Japan’s Riken Computational Astrophysics Laboratory have proposed a system that could blast dangerous space debris out of the sky before it comes close to the ISS. Scientists estimate there are nearly 3,000 tons of space junk in orbit of the Earth. These are pieces of rocket boosters, decoupling rings, and smaller objects like screws or paint chips. More

(Source: ExtremeTech - May 19)