Space Junk has been an issue for "rocket scientists" since the 1980s. The consensus even back than was that it's really not doable simply due to physics and th

Space Junk has been an issue for "rocket scientists" since the 1980s. The consensus even back than was that it's really not doable simply due to physics and the volume of "space" in orbit. The only viable strategy identified was to design launched objects to re-enter and burn up. But that was only started with DOD and NASA - nothing could be assured that the USSR/Russia or China would ever do the same. And the military always kept the option to put national defense ahead of this as well. I always look in articles about space junk for any inkling of addressing the fundamental physics issues we identified back in the 1980s and I've yet to ever see those mentioned. It's always some shallowly thought-out, gee-whiz ideas by someone who's never actually worked in the field. Elon Musk-style.