Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
A piece of space debris nearly collided with the International Space Station, forcing a Russian spacecraft to fire its engines and adjust the station’s trajectory, narrowly avoiding disaster.
NASA confirms the ISS has performed dozens of such maneuvers since 2000 as space traffic grows dangerously congested, with tens of thousands of objects orbiting Earth.
Collisions between satellites, rocket parts, and weapons tests have created vast clouds of space junk, some fragments large enough to destroy satellites or endanger astronaut missions.
Theoretical physicist Donald Kessler’s idea of cascading collisions in orbit becomes more relevant, as one impact could trigger a chain reaction, leaving Earth’s orbit unusable.
Space situational awareness remains limited; debris smaller than a tennis ball often goes undetected, yet even a tiny object could cause catastrophic damage due to high orbital speeds.
Low Earth Orbit, home to over 7,000 Starlink satellites and critical space infrastructure, faces increasing collision risks, jeopardizing communication, internet, and climate monitoring.
Efforts like drag sails, developed by ESA and HPS GmbH, aim to deorbit debris safely, but such technologies remain costly and experimental, with no clear plans for widespread adoption.
Experts emphasize the urgent need for enforceable international regulations to manage space traffic. The UN’s non-binding agreements fall short of addressing this escalating crisis.
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Space debris is likened to ocean plastics—an underestimated problem that has spiraled into an ecological disaster. Timely intervention is critical to avoid irreversible orbital damage.