Japan startup reveals "world's first" close-up space debris image

Japanese space company Astroscale Holdings Inc. on Friday unveiled what it calls the world's first publicly released close-up image taken of space debris, hailing it as progress toward understanding the challenges posed by trash orbiting Earth.The debris -- the second-stage section of Japan's H2A rocket launched in 2009 -- was captured by the startup's cuboid-shaped demonstration satellite, known as ADRAS-J, from several hundred meters away.Orbiting at high speeds around 600 kilometers above Earth, the section is approximately 11 meters long with a diameter of some 4 meters and weighs rough…READ FULL ARTICLE