Spacefaring countries have for decades been sending thousands upon thousands of satellites and other objects into orbit, where they have become an integral component of modern society. From hundreds ...

Space debris might sound like something from science fiction, but it's becoming a daily reality for our planet. Every hour of every day, chunks of old satellites and rocket parts plummet through our ...

Earth's space junk problem isn't just growing—it's accelerating. According to the European Space Agency's latest Space Environment Report, 2024 saw some of the largest debris-generating events in ...

When a piece of debris hits another object in space, it can also create more space debris, adding to the problem. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here ...

High up in Earth's orbit, millions of human-made objects large and small are flying at speeds of over 15,000 miles per hour. The objects, which range from inactive satellites to fragments of equipment ...

"Each time a satellite has to maneuver to avoid a potential collision, it uses fuel which is a finite and precious resource." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

Space has a trash problem, with defunct satellites, rockets, and smaller broken bits orbiting Earth at high speeds. The amount of space junk is only increasing, raising the risk of collision with ...

Sometimes, what goes up doesn’t come back down — instead, it becomes a problem. Junk is accumulating in space at a fantastic pace, millions of pieces orbit the Earth, from broken satellites to lost ...

A large chunk of suspected space debris has been found in a remote part of the Australian desert, the country’s space agency confirmed Monday. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access ...

China’s Shenzhou-20 spacecraft – shown here hitching a ride on a Long March-2F carrier rocket – was hit by a piece of space debris. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images China’s Shenzhou-20 spacecraft took ...

China routinely sends astronauts to and from its space station Tiangong. A crew capsule is about to undock from the station and return to Earth, but there’s nothing routine about its journey home. The ...