A staggering number of space trash are orbiting the earth, posing threats to the future space flights. There is around 750,000 space rubbish that is causing dangerous traffic for future launches. Even the accumulated debris since flights in 1957, totaling to 5,250 launches have left around 23,000 space trash.
Other space trash is results of satellites and observatories. In fact, only 1,200 of those who are around the earth's orbit are working satellites. The rest are simply dead or metal scraps. To make the problem worse, some space crafts have either disintegrated or exploded, exponentially resulting in hundreds of thousands of space debris.
Dysfunctional wrecks of space crafts can disintegrate. If those space trash that is bigger than bullets are to be counted, they can reach a mind-boggling 166 million pieces. These continually orbits the earth, attracted by the gravity. The problem is the lack of comprehensive policy that can discuss the importance of properly disposing of washed up space crafts, satellites and space flight debris.
The NASA explained that the astronomical number of space trash are not all man-made. There are native particles like meteoroids as well. These space debris are traveling at 17,500 miles per hour, fast enough to cause high-impact collisions.
According to Dr. Holger Krag, there is a need to remove the debris as soon as possible. This can begin with the 10 large satellites which are no longer used. Krag also said that these space trash have velocities that are faster than bullets. In the end, they pose a tremendous threat to working satellites when they collide, according to Space News.
If the space debris collides with other usable space crafts, even the economy on earth can be affected. Some satellites are used for telecommunications, broadcast, navigation and weather forecasting. Krag stressed that losing any working space infrastructure can have a severe impact the on the modern way of life.
