Researchers from across the globe are gathering in Canberra to coordinate one of the biggest clean-up efforts the universe has seen.

Mount Stromlo's Space Environment Research Centre is hosting the consortium, focused on clearing millions of pieces of man-made "space garbage" from the Earth's orbit.

It is estimated that 170 million pieces of debris are circling the Earth at speeds in excess of 27,000 km/h, putting A$900 billion worth of satellites and space infrastructure at risk.

Dr Ben Greene, the Space Environment Research Centre's chief executive, described why it was so important to clear the skies of this cosmic clutter.

"There is so much debris that it is colliding with itself and creating more debris," he said.

"A catastrophic avalanche of collisions which could quickly destroy all orbiting satellites is now possible."

With the exception of perhaps the United States, Australia had the greatest reliance on satellite technology in the world, Dr Greene said.

"Many people don't realise this. But we need those satellites for GPS, for crop management, for defence and even to spot bush fires."

Correspondingly, Australia was at the forefront of efforts to research and tackle the issue, he added.

"The resource commitments for SERC have come from every tier of space activity and are an international indication of the importance of this initiative."

Dr Moriba Jah is an internationally-renowned expert in the detection and tracking of space debris, and travelled to the conference from the University of Texas at Austin.

"My background is astrodynamics – the study of the motion of objects in space," he said.

"My entire career has been in predicting and computing the orbits of man-made things in space.

"So my particular emphasis with SERC is on orbital debris – pieces of space garbage – and doing a better job of predicting where they are going to go."

ANU PhD student Paul Sibley is currently working on a project that will ultimately help remove troublesome debris from the sky using Earth-based lasers.

He said the annual conference, running from May 31 to June 1, was a great opportunity to see and hear what other researchers had been up to.

"We do these once a year," he said.

"Different parts of the organisation come together and we see what everyone else is doing."