In recent years, the space debris has posed severe threat for aerospace applications. Active removal of space debris has been extensively investigated to preserve the sustainable development of space resources and maintain the safety of spacecrafts. In this paper, the origin and development of space debris problem is studied, and the characteristics of different active removal techniques are discussed. Besides, the technical difficulties and the scientific problem of space debris removal by using pulsed laser system is further studied, and the development of the method is reviewed. At last, this paper suggests potential development of space-based laser for removing space debris in the future.