Technology: Europe is sending a robot to clean up space. Why is the junk there in the first place?

Hong Kong (CNN Business)A self-destructing robot will be sent into orbit on the world's first space cleanup mission, European scientists announced Monday, a fresh approach to fixing up the galaxy's junk graveyard.

Our orbit is filled with garbage, including chunks of dead satellites, discarded rockets, and paint flecks that have fallen off them. The mission, named ClearSpace-1, will take the first step in tidying up this extraterrestrial wasteland, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

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By Jessie Yeung, CNN Business

Updated 3:50 AM ET, Thu December 12, 2019