A new Focus emphasizes the growing threat posed by space debris accumulating in Earth’s orbit and reviews potential robotic solutions to address this problem. Jake Abbott points out that there are nearly 30,000 human-made objects at risk of colliding with functional satellites or spacecraft in orbit, which could lead to a chain reaction with catastrophic global consequences. The author suggests that soft robotics approaches and contactless methods that can manipulate, capture, or remove debris are promising avenues for moving towards a cleaner space environment. “The robotics community has much to offer in creating solutions to these crucial problems,” Abbott writes. “Given that the loss of Earth orbit would upend life as we know it, those of us who can contribute solutions to the problem of space debris should prioritize doing so.”

For reporters interested in trends, a Letter published in Science in March 2023 called attention to the looming threat of debris in Earth’s orbit: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg8989