Almost three weeks after the successful test of a Chinese anti-satellite weapon, the US military has catalogued more than 500 pieces of debris created by the destruction of the obsolete weather satellite Watchdog groups are keeping a keen eye on the space junk, and are using data from the military to learn more about the weapon's capabilities.
Human increases in carbon dioxide emissions are thinning the Earth's outer atmosphere, making it easier to keep the space station aloft but prolonging the life of dangerous space debris.
An overview of the U.S. Air Force's space situational awareness efforts which strive to "enhance its knowledge of what's in orbit, as well as its ability to know if American space systems are under attack."
A Russian telecommunications satellite in geostationary orbit failed March 29 following what its builder says was a "sudden external impact" of undetermined origin. The satellite, Express-AM11, is being moved into a graveyard orbit before on-board temperatures render it uncontrollable.
More than 9,000 pieces of space debris are orbiting the Earth, a hazard that can only be expected to get worse in the next few years. And currently there's no workable and economic way to clean up the mess.
A European industrial space group, partly funded by the European Space Agency, is challenging the notion that old satellites must be retired. The company, Orbital Recovery, has recently signed for its first satellite-servicing mission. EuroNews 'Space' magazine has been talking to some of the actors of the very innovative "Space Tug" project.
New research indicates that global warming is decreasing atmospheric density in low-earth orbits which will accelerate the orbit of existing space debris and significantly increase the risk of collisions.
A new study finds that the geostationary orbit is becoming cluttered with inactive satellites due to the failure of spacefaring nations to move satellites into disposal orbits after they have ceased to function.
A new survey of the population of objects orbiting the earth finds that the total number of objects has increased and will increase even more when the junk created by recent fragementation is counted in the official census.
Astronomers working for the European Space Agency (ESA) warned yesterday that space is so full of rubbish that it has become a danger to the people and satellites in it.