A recent near miss in Earth’s orbit between a dead Russian spy satellite and NASA’s TIMED craft has raised concerns about the growing issue of space debris. Initially estimated to pass within 65 feet of each other, further examination revealed that the two spacecraft were actually less than 10 meters apart during the encounter.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy described the incident as “shocking and concerning,” highlighting the potential risks of a collision between the two satellites. Such a collision could have generated significant debris, posing a threat to human lives and other spacecraft in orbit.
The increasing number of satellites and space junk in Earth’s orbit has made near misses like this one more common. Currently, there are approximately 11,500 satellites circling our planet, with 9,000 of them still operational. SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network alone accounts for more than half of the operational satellites in orbit.
In addition to satellites, there is also a significant amount of space junk in Earth’s orbit, with over 36,500 pieces at least 4 inches wide and more than 130 million shards at least 1 millimeter across. NASA has been actively working on mitigating the space junk problem over the years, releasing an integrated “space sustainability strategy” to address the issue.
The agency’s sustainability strategy focuses on measuring and assessing space sustainability, as well as incentivizing sustainable practices in Earth orbit and beyond. The strategy will eventually cover Earth, Earth orbit, cislunar space, and deep space, with the first volume focusing on sustainability in Earth orbit and the goal of sharing information with the global space community.
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