Could somebody explain to me (non-physicist) what the principles at play are?<p>Is it "simply" that they fire a strong laser at the front of the object to slow it down, so that orbital mechanics do the rest and make it burn up?<p>Do lasers really allow you to "push" things?
Wikipedia tells me that lasers have been considered before to fight off the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome</a>
Nice press release- this is all old news. If you know where something is well enough to hit it with a laser, you're probably better off leaving it where it is and tracking it.
Feel like playing with laz0rz and shit? How about using your own money to arrange for that? Don't wanna? Well, good thing you can just use shitloads of money that's been forcefully taken from people!