Swiss scientists announced they would be launching a “janitor satellite” called the CleanSpace One that is designed to help rid space of debris. The Swiss will be launching the $11-million prototype in hopes that the satellite will collect all of the space junk floating around that could cause damage to the country’s orbiting satellites.

The idea to release the CleanSpace One comes only a few months after the end of 2011, which was a year full of reports that space debris was re-entering the atmosphere and plummeting towards Earth. One of the first reports came when a 12,500-pound decommissioned satellite fell into the Pacific Ocean. Only a few weeks later, a mysterious space ball hit Namibia. 

With all of the debris plummeting back on Earth, NASA began to analyze the data and determined currently 500,000 pieces of debris are floating in space. That debris can travel at tremendously fast speeds (17,500 miles per hour), which is fast enough to cause major damage during a collision.

The CleanSpace One prototype is currently being built by the Swiss Space Center at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanne or EPFL. The estimated completion date of the satellite launch date is sometime between the next three to five years depending on how fast the prototype can be completed and launched into space.

The Swiss said the first order of business would be for the CleanSpace One to collect two of their personal satellite, which were launched back in 2009 and 2010. The Swiss said step two would be to collect miscellaneous floating debris.

“It has become essential to be aware of the existence of this debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation,” said Claude Nicollier, an astronaut and EPFL professor. Nicollier explained that building this type of device means developing technology that can address major problems.

The scientists say they are still working on making sure the prototype will be able to stop the debris while moving in orbit at such high speeds and be able to maintain it for collection. They also need to determine how they are going to send the device in space and track it’s path or match the debris they are looking to collect, all while returning it safely without it burning up and self-destructing.

Swiss Center’s Director, Volker Gass, said he hopes to someday “offer and sell a whole family of ready-made systems, designed as sustainably as possible, that are able to de-orbit several different kinds of satellites.”