A disc of space debris is hurtling through space at speeds that are sufficient to rattle the International Space Station, just above Earth’s surface.
The Earth’s orbit is getting so cluttered by man-made and non-natural objects that it could limit space travel in future.
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Nasa and the United States Space Force have a network of sensors scanning the sky and keeping tabs on all27,000 piecesSpace larger than 10cm.
Objects orbiting Earth travel at approximately 15,000 miles an hour. This is fast enough to cause serious damage if they collide with satellites or space ships.
A Blue Origin engineer Posted an imageAn aluminum block nearly crushed when less than one ounce of space debris collided with its broadside during orbit.
CNETIt was reported that the International Space Station has to perform about one evasive maneuver per annum to avoid any collisions with space junk.
Scientists are now examining the danger that space trash presents to Earth life and our dream of travelling in space.
The Kessler Syndrome is a theory that Earth’s orbit will become so crowded that debris will just keep colliding, creating a field of space trash thick enough that we’re forced to ground space travel.
Elon Musk, one the loudest space travel advocates, has added more that 2,500 Starlink Satellites to the disc of space debris collecting around Earth.
SpaceX intends to add up 42,000 satellites for lower Earth orbit, much in the interest of astronomers.
China tested a military satellite to clear out space junk. Space.comReports indicate that many details were kept secret due to the military nature the mission.
Stargazers who were observant and able to see the stars found that Shijan-21Satellite ferried another satellite safely to Earth from a distance of 3,000 km in space junkGraveyard“.
Many of the plans for space travel and operations in the 21st century will be carried out by private companies, rather than public agencies.
Future space litter may be a matter of private companies being held accountable. Currently, there is no regulation.