Space Debris

Space Debris

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – ‘China satellite in close encounter with Russian debris’

Concept –

• Space junk is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space—principally in Earth orbit.
• These include dead satellites, fragments of rocket bodies and spacecraft etc.
• Currently, an estimated 20,000 objects—including satellites and space debris—are crowding low-Earth orbit.

What causes space junk?

• Unoperational / Expired / Exploded satellites, rocket parts or spacecrafts
• Anti-satellite tests that incapacitates or destroys satellites for strategic or tactical purposes (like Mission Shakti conducted by DRDO, China’s 2007 ASAT test,etc.)
• Rare collision between two spacecrafts
• Mega-constellations of satellites planned by companies such as SpaceX ‘s Starlink prpject

Kessler syndrome

• This is an idea proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978.
• The Kessler syndrome is a scenario in which the density of objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade that increases the likelihood of further collisions.

ISRO’s Efforts

• ‘Project NETRA’ – It is an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• Only the US, Russia and Europe have similar facilities in place to track space objects and share collision warnings.