A Japanese experimentation to practice cleaning up place junk in Earth orbit has experienced a problem .

The experimentation was due to take place on dining table theKounotori-6 spacecraft , an H - II Transfer Vehicle ( HTV ) used by the Japanese outer space delegacy ( JAXA ) to resupply the International Space Station ( ISS ) .

The spacecraft leave the ISS on January 27 , having spent six weeks attached to the station . usually , HTVs are then send to burn up in Earth ’s atmosphere , as they are ineffectual to retort to Earth .

But this time around , JAXA had contrive to do a few experiment on table the ballistic capsule . One of these was to be the intriguingKounotori Integrated Tether Experiments(KITE ) .

The plan was to unfurl an electromagnetic tether ( EDT ) measuring about 700 meters ( 2,300 feet ) long , with a tidy sum count 20 kilo ( 44 pounds ) at the death . A current would endure through the tether , and a combining of Earth ’s magnetic sphere and the galvanising current would then keep it taut .

The lead was design to bring forth atmospherical retarding force , creating a noticeable puff on the spacecraft . The idea is that this technology could be used on space debris in the future to drag it out of celestial orbit .

But accord to theJapan Times , it ’s not vindicated if the space vehicle has lead the cable , so the experimentation has not yet go ahead . JAXA is planning to continue trying until Saturday , with the spacecraft due to re - enter Earth ’s atmosphere and burn up on Monday . precise contingent of what went wrong have not yet been released .

It ’s estimated that there are meg of piece of paint patch - sized rubble in field , X of thousands of pieces of distance dust larger than a tennis lump , and thousands matter more than 100 kilogram ( 220 pound ) . Working out how to bump off some of these larger bite would be very useful .

And there are impacts in orbit , albeit normally on a small scale . The ISS is often hit by small micrometeoroids , although we covered lately how theytry to avoid impacts . And back in 2009 , two satellites work by Russia and the US collide , destroying both of them and adding thousands of new pieces of debris into orbit .

Here ’s hoping JAXA has more fate with their experiment by Saturday .