Space junk is a growing problem, and the more stuff we launch into space without cleaning up after ourselves, the harder it will become to sustain space launches in the future.
Even if we stopped launching rockets today, there's enough junk surrounding our planet that larger pieces of space junk could collide and break into smaller pieces of space junk.
Several plans are underway to clean up the space surrounding our planet, but perhaps one of the most plausible ideas is to launch a spacecraft with a built-in net mechanism for grabbing onto space junk. From there, it will de-orbit the junk and let it burn up in the Earth's atmosphere upon re-entry.
Most modern cleanup ideas are still in their testing phases, so commercial space cleanup hasn't been achieved yet. There's still time to make a difference; fortunately, with technology advancing every day, we're sure to come up with a solution eventually.
