Every few centuries the sun blasts the Earth with a huge amount of high-energy particles. If it were to happen today, it would wreak havoc on technology.
The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reaches into outer space, as Russia threatens to stop co-operating on supplying and participating in space missions.
Megaconstellations of satellites will visually clutter the night sky, disrupting astronomical research. And the environmental damage caused by these satellites is still unknown.
Activities in space today are far more numerous and complicated compared to 1967, before humans had landed on the moon or Elon Musk had been born. Two experts explain the need for better laws to keep space peaceful.
Russia’s testing of an anti-satellite weapon risked the life of astronauts on the International Space Station and could have astronomical impacts on Earth.
Pierre Omaly, Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES)
A Russian satellite has been destroyed in a missile strike, creating a vast amount of debris that joins the tens of thousands of pieces already in orbit around the Earth.
Russia destroyed one of its old satellites during a successful test of an anti-satellite weapon. A space security expert explains what this weapon was and the dangers of the expanding debris field.