Space may be the final frontier but even NASA has a 鈥渓eave no trace鈥� mentality when it comes to camping in the cosmos.

The space agency the next stage of Sierra Space鈥檚 trash compactor that aims to cut down on garbage on the International Space Station. If all goes as planned, the Louisville space company鈥檚 contraption will board the ISS in 2026 to help reduce the volume of and potentially find new uses for the waste.

NASA鈥檚 approach to trash has been years in the making. Space debris from broken satellites or tends to receive more attention when it comes to cosmic clutter. And that鈥檚 still a work in progress that other companies and researchers are trying to resolve. But NASA also doesn鈥檛 want to just dump space station waste into space, though they鈥檝e tried . The current disposal method is for trash to hitch a ride and burn up with the next .

Sierra鈥檚 compactor could really change things, and the company aims to go beyond the space station mission by adding reclamation and recycling. The contraption compresses everyday trash, like used cleaning wipes, plastic packaging, food leftovers and other raw garbage, into solid square tiles 鈥� a 75% reduction in volume. Water and gases are removed for later reclamation. The tiles are easier to store on board and could someday be used as an extra layer of radiation protection for space habitats on the moon or Mars.

鈥淧art of the goal of this is exploration missions,鈥� said John Wetzel, program manager for Sierra鈥檚 Trash Compaction and Processing System, or TCPS. 鈥淚t becomes really critical when you鈥檙e heading to Mars for a couple of years to store that trash. This is a 4-to-1 compression ratio so it鈥檚 a lot smaller and then you can recover the water, which is really important when you go on a long-duration mission. We鈥檙e also looking at using this not only on the space station but future stations in orbit.鈥�

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