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Synopsis<\/strong>: With the increasing cost-effectiveness in rocket and satellite technologies, more countries and companies are planning more missions to orbit than ever before. This will ultimately result in more space debris that could trigger a mass collision in the future. This calls for countries and corporates to collaborate on the issue.<\/p>\n In March, a Chinese military satellite collapsed in the orbit. It left a trail of debris high above the Earth. Yunhai 1-02<\/strong>, as the satellite is known, collided with a piece of junk leftover from a Russian rocket launched in 1996. It was the first major collision in Earth orbit since 2009. However, it won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n The dead and unwanted craft (rockets or satellites) left behind in the finite space of Earth orbit is referred to as space junk. As this junk increases, so would collisions; each collision would in turn produce debris that would make further collisions more likely. The result could be a belt of space junk so dense that it would make certain low-Earth orbits unusable. More than 100 million pieces of space junk are now orbiting the Earth.<\/p>\n Recent instances:<\/strong> \u00a0In 2007, China<\/strong> launched a ballistic missile at one of its old weather satellites, producing the largest cloud of space debris<\/strong> ever tracked. In 2009, a non-functional Russian communications orbiter<\/strong> collided with a functioning one operated by an Iridium Satellite, producing almost 2,000 pieces of debris measuring at least 4 inches in diameter.<\/p>\n What are the initiatives taken to manage space junk?<\/strong><\/p>\n Firstly<\/strong>, in 1995, NASA<\/strong> issued the world\u2019s first set of debris-mitigation guidelines. It proposed that satellites should be designed to re-enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere within 25 years of mission completion.<\/p>\n Secondly<\/strong>, other space-faring countries and the United Nations follow their own guidelines.\u00a0But urgency and compliance were lacking, partly because the world had not yet experienced a destructive collision between spacecraft and debris.<\/p>\n Firstly<\/strong>, updating the 1967<\/strong> Outer Space Treaty<\/strong><\/a> is the need of the hour. In particular, provisions that give countries permanent property rights to their objects in space may complicate efforts to clean up debris.<\/p>\n Secondly<\/strong>, there is a need for greater clarity on common issues, required to boost trust and cooperation.<\/p>\n Thirdly<\/strong>, NASA should fund research into debris-removal technologies\u2014such as those recently demonstrated by Astroscale, a Japanese startup, which hold promise.<\/p>\n Finally<\/strong>, The US should also seek to expand the Artemis Accords<\/strong>, a framework for space cooperation that includes (so far) 11 other countries.<\/p>\n Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article “Long-feared space junk has become an imminent threat<\/span>“<\/strong> published in Mint<\/strong> on 3rd September 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\nIntroduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n
What is space junk?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Way forward<\/strong>:<\/h5>\n