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Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, [ 1 ]space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris[ 2 ]) are defunct human-made objects in space – principally in Earth orbit – which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecraft (nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages ...
There were 190 known satellite breakups between 1961 and 2006. [2] By 2015, the total had grown to 250 on-orbit fragmentation events. [3] As of 2012 there were an estimated 500,000 pieces of debris in orbit, [4] with 300,000 pieces below 2000 km (LEO). [1] Of the total, about 20,000 are tracked. [1]
A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well beyond geosynchronous orbit. Some satellites are moved into such orbits at the end of their operational life to reduce the probability of colliding with ...
As space debris increases, scientists are worried about collisions that could eventually clog up Earth’s orbit, posing a threat to astronauts, space missions and other satellites, according to NASA.
Kessler syndrome. Space debris populations seen from outside geosynchronous orbit (GSO). There are two primary debris fields: the ring of objects in GSO and the cloud of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). The Kessler syndrome (also called the Kessler effect, [1][2] collisional cascading, or ablation cascade), proposed by NASA scientists Donald J ...
J002E3 is in the circle. Computer simulation of J002E3's motion, alternating between six Earth orbits and a heliocentric orbit (click on image to view animation) S-IVB stage of Apollo 17. The one used for Apollo 12 is of identical type. J002E3 is an object in space which is thought to be the S-IVB third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket.
The 2009 satellite collision entirely obliterated both spacecraft and resulted in the creation of an estimated 1,000 new pieces of space debris larger than 10 cm (4 in) and many smaller ones. [2] There are other smaller bits of material in orbit around Earth that could also cause significant damage to satellites.
The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris. The system is the responsibility of United States Space Command and operated by the United States Space Force and its functions are: