There are very few projects and companies currently aimed at tackling the issue. Credit: Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library via Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Nearly half of all known objects currently orbiting Earth technically classify as space junk , but the true amount may be even higher. Not only that, the debris continues amassing faster than it’s being removed. The latest red alert report comes from the engineering components company, Accu, and is based on information compiled from the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and its Space-Track database . According to their assessment, there are at least 12,550 tracked orbital debris fragments circling the planet “with no control or purpose.” That’s around 47 percent of the 33,269 known objects, which includes almost 17,690 satellites .…