The amount of space junk will increase as we continue to launch objects into space, but there are ways to curb damage on the ground.
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Articles on Low Earth orbit
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Spaceplanes seemed out of favour when the shuttle was retired in 2011; they now seem to be making a comeback.
Countries have submitted applications for hundreds of thousands of new satellites to be launched. The scale poses challenges for overcrowding orbit, with environmental and safety challenges.
Earth’s orbits are getting more and more crowded. To keep track of everything and avoid collisions and catastrophes, we need a new field: space domain awareness.
We’re currently a few years into the 25th studied solar cycle. An 11-year period of sun activity, this solar cycle is more active than previously expected.
Build a powerful enough laser, and you can shine it into space. Aim it well, and you can blind satellites.
Megaconstellations of satellites will visually clutter the night sky, disrupting astronomical research. And the environmental damage caused by these satellites is still unknown.
China’s Long March 5B rocket, after a successful blast-off in April to deliver a space station module, is now on track to crash-land somewhere with a latitude between New York and New Zealand.
Ten small satellites were launched from 11km above Earth’s surface.
The shift toward mega-constellations is a challenge for global space governance.
So long as small satellites are in low Earth orbit – and most likely they will be – the Earth’s “vacuum cleaner” will clean them up.
Back of the net! Litter-picking mission will leave space junk caught up in a web.
Just about anyone can get a tiny, cheap satellite into orbit these days. As we consider how to deploy them responsibly, inspiration comes from an amateur community of enthusiasts.
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Astronomy, University of Regina
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PhD Researcher in Space Law and Policy, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Research Fellow II, University of Surrey
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Professor, Swinburne University of Technology
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Researcher in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester
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Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions, Arizona State University
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Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology
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Emeritus Professor of International Law, Western Sydney University
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Ph.D. Student in the Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology, Arizona State University
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Reader, Brunel University London
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Vice Chancellors Research Fellow, Northumbria Law School, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Professor of Hypersonic Aerodynamics, The University of Queensland
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PhD candidate, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of British Columbia
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Space Physics, University of Saskatchewan
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Director, Center for National Security Initiatives, and Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder
