These agencies are only interested in placing satellites in orbit in order to satisfy operational requirements. Cleaning up orbits is not perceived as being productive. Civil servants and military personnel will not see this kind of mission as career enhancing.

Thus, very little official enthusiastic support can be expected. However, this situation may present a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to get an edge on potentially profitable ways to clean up space.

Let's do some brainstorming. How can anyone make money with space debris? Space trash has little value compared to the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to retrieve it. So, salvage does not seem to offer a viable business approach. After much thought, there appears to be only one business approach that might be successful: interactive gaming via the Internet.

Yes, the idea here is to create a Space Debris Elimination Game that would be accessible to most of the world population.

Suppose a private sector company creates a business plan that describes an international and interactive game to eliminate debris by using privately developed spacecraft and techniques to cause debris to be de-orbited by game players.

Revenue would be created through dues and fees paid by gamers from all over the world.

The concept could be set up to allow the players to challenge each other. Players could gain points by hitting debris pieces, with additional points for causing reentry. Those who accumulate a great deal of points could be awarded prizes.

Additional revenue might be possible through the creation of a worldwide lottery. Each debris piece that could possibly be de-orbited in a given week is given a number. Lottery ticket buyers would guess which debris piece reenters next. If no reentries occur in a given week then the lottery value increases each week until there is a winner.

To motivate investors, world governments should be willing to provide low interest loans to assist in capitalizing the venture. Such assistance may be risky, but the commercial approach avoids the prospect of taxing every satellite launch in order to pay for debris clean up. This is also a way for governments to avoid the eventual huge cost of cleaning up space.

Now that we have a business plan, what might a commercial space debris reduction system look like? One idea is to place a constellation of pellet-firing gun-satellites in orbit above the most dangerous debris altitudes. The system would be rigged such that all pellets will slow the targeted debris ultimately causing it to reenter.

These pellets could be ice spheres or even collected pieces of small debris that is recycled to help eliminate other debris. Of course, all pellet firings would be controlled to avoid operational satellites. Furthermore, the system will be designed to work without increasing the total number of debris objects.

Lets' do the math. Based on other constellations, we can estimate the cost of the pellet satellites, ground segments and systems maintenance as five to ten billion dollars. Annual operating costs might be in the one-billion-dollar range. If ten million gamers from all over the world each paid $150 per year to play, then all expenses should be covered.

The lottery would account for additional revenues. In addition to Internet shooting galleries, a network of shooting gallery clubs might be established where there are gambling casinos, such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Macau.

The space pellets approach is simply an example of what might be possible in the private sector. The video game industry took in $9.5 billion in 2007 in the U.S. alone. The Space Debris Challenge industry can be real and exciting. With the right marketing, merchandizing and promotions potential worldwide revenues could well exceed those of video games.

A variation on this game is the use of high-powered lasers instead of pellets. It may also be possible to make debris reduction into a spectator sport like tennis or golf. Two professional players could challenge each other to a game of debris chasing and removal.

To further expand this business opportunity, it may be possible to create ancillary activities such as documentaries and films based on the space debris industry, television game shows in which contestants try to hit debris in real time and souvenir sales involving memorabilia.

At first glance this approach may seem farfetched, but consider what is on television and how the movie studios merchandize film-related goods. It is often difficult to judge these entrepreneurial ideas until they are fleshed out and tested.

For all those interested in debris for fun and profit and those who are concerned and interested in the pending space debris crisis, your first step is to get smart on the space debris issues and possible solutions. This is where Launchspace can help. If you are involved in space flight, you will want to sign up for the "must take" seminar on the subject, August 4 in Washington, DC.

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