Kessler syndrome
Japan Launches the First Wooden Satellite to Space
Space debris, which consists of pieces of spent rocket stages, satellites, and other objects launched into orbit since 1957 -…
Orbital Debris is Getting Out of Control
In 1978, NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais proposed a scenario where the density of objects in…
Astroscale Closes Within 50 Meters of its Space Junk Target
Space debris is a major problem for space exploration. There are millions of pieces up there in orbit from flecks…
ESA Plans to Eliminate New Space Debris by 2030
What can we do about space junk? We know how much debris is in orbit, and we know the problem…
The Irony. ClearSpace-1 Couldn't Clean up Space Debris Because its Target Already Got hit by Space Debris, Creating Even More Space Debris.
The European Space Agency's ClearSpace-1 satellite was zeroing in on the spent payload adaptor from a 2013 rocket launch. Its…
If There Were a War in Space, Debris Would Destroy all Remaining Satellites in About 40 Years
On one particular day in 2021, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS must have felt a pin-prick of fear and…
Falling Space Junk has a 10% Chance of Killing Someone in the Next Decade
The statistics of how people die offer a gruesome but informative way to understand both how humans perceive threats and…
A new Method to Capture High-Resolution Images of Space Debris
“You can’t hit what you can’t see” is a common phrase in sports and was originally derived to describe baseball…
There’s a 1 in 20 Chance That Two Dead Satellites Might Crash Tonight (Update: No Collision)
According to multiple assessments, there's a good chance two dead satellites will crash in the skies above Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, creating…