Space junk, also known as orbital debris, is any human-made object that orbits the Earth but has no useful function. It includes defunct satellites, rocket stages, fragments from collisions and explosions, and even paint flakes and dust. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are more than 34,000 objects larger than 10 cm, about 900,000 objects between 1 and 10 cm, and more than 128 million objects smaller than 1 cm in orbit around the Earth. These numbers are expected to increase as more satellites are launched and more collisions occur. Why is space junk a problem? Space junk poses a serious threat to our satellites and space missions for several reasons. First, space junk can damage or destroy operational satellites that provide vital services such as communication, navigation, weather forecasting, and Earth observation. A collision with a small piece of space junk can create a dent or a hole in a satellite, affecting its performance or rendering it useless. A collision...
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