It's not much and it's definitely not profitable. The vast majority of space junk (by number) is small pieces of metal, bolts, specks of paint, that sort of th

It's not much and it's definitely not profitable. The vast majority of space junk (by number) is small pieces of metal, bolts, specks of paint, that sort of thing. The few bigger things are rocket stages, decommissioned satellites, and larger collision fragments. The problem is that the most dangerous debris (e.g. debris that doesn't deorbit on its own anytime soon) orbits between 2000km and GEO at varying inclinations. These orbits are difficult to get to and the debris is worth nothing compared to the energy you'd have to spend to catch it. The value of the debris itself is comparable to the value of junk here on Earth. Unless space faring nations are paying for removal, I cannot see any scenario in which the ~8,000 metric tons of space debris [0] can be collected and recycled at a profit. It's just too difficult and costly to do. [0] https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/National-Orbital-Debris-RD-Plan-2021.pdf https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021...