Space Debris
- January 21, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.