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It is converting a telescope into a huge ‘space gun’ which will be used to zap orbital debris which poses a threat to orbiting space ships.
The ‘cannon’ is not likely to be very powerful at this stage, meaning it would have to be focused on a piece of floating junk for some time in order to vaporise it.
But it could be a vital weapon of war in a world which depends on satellites.
Researchers at a subsidiary of Roscosmos, the Russian equivalent of Nasa, want to turn a telescope at the Altai Optical-Laser Center into a cannon which will blast space junk.