(だいがく)

university; college

(うちゅう)

space; universe

(ごみ)

trash, garbage

(ちょうさ)

investigation; survey

(えいせい)

satellite

(うちあげ)

launch (of a rocket)

(うちあげる)

to launch (a rocket)

(にほん)

Japan

(ある)

a certain (some)

(ちーむ)

team

(しらべる)

to investigate; to survey

(ちいさな)

small / little

(じんこう)

artificial / man-made

(やくめ)

role / duty

(おえる)

to finish / to bring to an end

(ふるい)

old (things)

(ろけっと)

rocket

(いちぶ)

part, portion

(ちきゅう)

Earth, the globe

(まわり)

Surroundings; people around; vicinity

(こうした)

such / this kind of

(たいりょう)

large quantity

(のこる)

to remain / to stay behind

(うごく)

to move

(ぶつかる)

to crash into, to collide

(きけん)

danger; risk

(たかまる)

to rise, to grow

(こんかい)

this time

(とくべつ)

Special; particular

(かめら)

camera

(つく)

to attach, stick to

(うごき)

movement; trend

(かんさつ)

observation

(いち)

position / location

(せいかく)

accurate / precise

(きろく)

record

(あつめる)

to collect

(じょうほう)

information

(しょうらい)

future

(あんぜん)

safety

(とりのぞく)

to remove / get rid of

(ぎじゅつ)

skill, technology

(かいはつ)

development

(やくだてる)

to put to use / make useful

(けんきゅう)

research, study

(かんきょう)

environment

(まもる)

to protect

(ますます)

increasingly / more and more

(じゅうよう)

important

(せつめい)

explanation

(こんご)

from now on; in the future

(かっこく)

each country / various nations

(きょうりょく)

cooperation

(つづける)

to continue

(はなす)

to speak, talk

in order to, for the purpose of

Expresses purpose. Formed with verb dictionary form + ための + noun, or noun + のための + noun. Modifies the following noun to indicate its purpose.

the term ~ means (definition)

～とは introduces a definition or explanation of a term. 宇宙ごみとは means 'what is called space debris is...'.

nominalizer (the act of ~)

Turns a verb phrase into a noun. Here 話を聞くこと (the act of listening to a speech).

and (formal ～ている)

Formal/written form of ～ていて, connecting clauses. Here competition is becoming fierce, and... (激しくなっており).

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

passive voice: was/were ~ed

Passive form indicating that the subject receives the action. '食べられて' means 'were eaten'. Central grammar of this article about tulips being eaten by deer.

plan to / is scheduled to

Indicates a scheduled plan or intent.

while doing ...

Verb stem + ながら indicates doing two things simultaneously. The action before ながら is the secondary action; the main action follows.

to go on doing / continue to (from now)

In '増えていく' – 'will continue to increase (into the future)'. Indicates continuing trend going forward.

大学が宇宙ごみ調査の衛星を打ち上げ

University launches a satellite to survey space debris

ある日本の大学のチームが、宇宙ごみを調べるための小さな人工衛星を打ち上げた。

A team at a certain Japanese university launched a small artificial satellite to investigate space debris.

宇宙ごみとは、役目を終えた古い衛星やロケットの一部のことだ。

Space debris refers to old satellites that have finished their role and parts of rockets.

地球の周りには、こうしたごみが大量に残っており、動いている衛星にぶつかる危険が高まっている。

A large amount of such debris remains around the Earth, and the danger of it colliding with moving satellites is rising.

今回打ち上げられた衛星には、特別なカメラが付いている。

The satellite launched this time is equipped with a special camera.

このカメラで宇宙ごみの動きを観察し、位置を正確に記録する。

With this camera, it observes the movement of space debris and accurately records its position.

集めた情報は、将来ごみを安全に取り除く技術の開発に役立てられる予定だ。

The collected information is planned to be used in developing technology to safely remove debris in the future.

研究チームは、宇宙の環境を守ることがますます重要になっていると説明している。

The research team explains that protecting the space environment is becoming increasingly important.

今後も各国と協力しながら、調査を続けていきたいと話している。

They say they want to continue the survey from now on while cooperating with each country.