AFTER decades of being treated like a cosmic junkyard, the space around our planet is starting to resemble a shooting gallery. The UN is concerned about the spiralling risks of junk colliding with satellites and spacecraft and has now issued guidelines asking member nations to limit the amount of rubbish they leave in space.
Although the recommendations are voluntary, they represent the first international agreement to deal with the problem. “This is a very important milestone,” says Walter Flury, space debris protection manager for the European Space Agency.
Until now, spacefaring countries have been dumping debris with gay abandon. Since…
