Ai Tanabe joins the Debris Section of the Technora Corporation as they work to remove the debris left around Earth. As Ai tries to accommodate to space life, she learns more about her crew on the dilapidated 'Toy Box'.
In the year 2075, mankind has reached a point where journeying between Earth, the moon and the space stations is part of daily life. However, the progression of technology in space has also resulted in the problem of the space debris, which can cause excessive and even catastrophic damage to spacecrafts and equipment. This is the story of Technora's Debris Collecting section, its EVA worker, Hachirota "Hachimaki" Hoshino, and the newcomer to the group, Ai Tanabe.
The story of Planetes follows the crew of the space debris collector ship DS-12 "Toy Box" and the Debris Section of Station 7 owned by Technora Corporation. Their main job is to dispose of space debris around Earth's and the Moon's orbit that would endanger space ships, satellites and space stations. However, there is much more going on under the surface as the crew tries to tackle everyday problems, big questions and dangers way above their paygrade...
