Swiss scientists said lsat Wednesday they plan to launch a "janitor satellite" specially designed to get rid of space junk, AP reported.

The US$11-million satellite called CleanSpace One is being built by the Swiss Space Center. Its launch would come within three to five years and its first tasks will be to grab two Swiss satellites that were launched in 2009 and 2010 but will be phased out of use.

The U.S. space agency NASA says over 500,000 pieces of spent rocket stages, broken satellites and other debris are orbiting the Earth.

(China.org.cn, CNTV February 21, 2012)

據美聯社報道，瑞士科學家上周三表示，他們計劃發射一種特制的“清潔工衛星”來處理太空垃圾。

瑞士航天中心目前正在研制值1100萬美元的“太空清潔-1號”衛星。該衛星有望三至五年內發射，第一項任務就是將兩顆屆時已報廢的瑞士衛星收回。據悉，這兩顆衛星分別發射于2009年和2010年。

美國宇航局透露，現在有50多萬片垃圾繞著地球轉，其中有廢棄的火箭級、壞掉的衛星、以及其它一些碎片。