--- title: "Elon Musk Says New Spacecraft Will “Chomp Up” Space Junk" description: "In a Saturday tweet, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested that Starship might be a potential solution to the growing space junk problem." date: "2021-07-06" modified: "2021-07-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-chomp-space-junk" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "space debris" - "space junk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Says New Spacecraft Will “Chomp Up” Space Junk ![In a Saturday tweet, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested that Starship might be a potential solution to the growing space junk problem.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Chomp L'oeil Earth's orbit is becoming increasingly littered with our leftover garbage. More than 27,000 pieces of orbital debris of varying sizes are being tracked by the Department of Defense’s global Space Surveillance Network. That could make launching rockets [increasingly difficult]() in the future, let alone the danger space debris poses to space travelers. But in a [Saturday tweet](), SpaceX CEO Elon Musk suggested that Starship — his space company's Mars-bound spacecraft that's currently in development — might be a potential solution to the problem. "We can fly Starship around space and chomp up debris with the moving fairing door," [he tweeted](). ## Open Up The spacecraft is designed to open its two gigantic fairing doors when in orbit — kind of like the beak of a bird — to release payloads from within, according to SpaceX's [official Starship Users Guide]() released last year. The same mechanism could be used to trap space junk, Musk now says. The standard clamshell-style payload fairing is just shy of 30 feet in diameter, the "largest usable payload volume of any current or in development launcher," according to the document. It's [not the first time]() the idea has been floated. "It’s quite possible we could leverage Starship to go to some of these dead rocket bodies — other people’s rockets of course — basically go pick up some of this junk in outer space," SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell [told *TIME*]() in October. "It’s not gonna be easy, but I do believe that Starship offers the possibility of going and doing that and I’m really excited about it," she added. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk says SpaceX's Starship could 'chomp up' space junk with its moving door on the way to Mars]() \[*Insider*\] **More on Starship:** *[SpaceX Scrubs Launch After Aircraft Enters “Keep Out Zone”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()