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The European Space Agency is setting out to try and clean up the space debris that's currently orbiting our planet.

As the video above demonstrates, the cosmic trash left surrounding our planet is becoming increasingly more concentrated.

If you've seen the movie Gravity , you’ll now that space junk - debris from old satellites, space rockets and other tiny particles - can be incredibly dangerous.

The large pieces risk causing major damage to the International Space Station and satellites in orbit around Earth, which provide services like Earth observation and global positioning.

(Image: NASA)

During 18–21 April, experts from around the world will meet at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany for the 7th European Conference on Space Debris.

Delegates will discuss the extent of the debris problem and what can be done to ensure that satellites we rely on – providing us with services such as navigation, TV and weather forecasting – can operate safely in the future.

Talks will address acute issues like current practices in debris avoidance, novel concepts for removing debris, and the deployment of large constellations of several thousand satellites for telecommunications.

(Image: Getty)

The space agency previously released plans for weighted nets that can be thrown onto a piece of space debris to capture it.

It’s one of many possible orbit-cleaning techniques that has been proposed by ESA - others include harpoons, tentacles and robot arms.