Removedebris

The satellite for the RemoveDebris will launch in the container inside the cargo craft of the SpaceX Dragon.

During a recent test, the RemoveDEBRIS satellite shot a harpoon at a 4-inch-wide (10 centimeters) target held aloft by a five-foot-long (1.5-meter) boom, the BBC.

Officials hope RemoveDebris can prove cleaning up space junk can be accomplished at a relatively low cost, within the budgets of commercial service providers and governments with limited funding.

Ideally, RemoveDEBRIS will only be the first in a series of harpoon-wielding, net-totting janitor satellites.