CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Currently, about 25,000 space debris objects are large enough to be tracked and cataloged, but when accounting for the miniscule pieces-lens covers, peeling insulation, or the fragments and shards produced from “breakup events” like colliding objects or explosions-that number rises to the millions.

Detailed explanation-2: -As our chart shows, most space junk comes from three countries: Russia, the U.S. and China. Last November, Russia blew up one of its old satellites using an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, sending thousands of pieces of debris into orbit and risked hitting the International Space Station.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Soviet Union first tested the Polyot interceptor in 1963 and successfully tested an orbital anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon in 1968. According to some accounts, Sergei Korolev started some work on the concept in 1956 at his OKB-1, while others attribute the work to Vladimir Chelomei’s OKB-52 around 1959.

Detailed explanation-4: -Based on statistical models produced by ESA’s space debris office, it is estimated that there are 36,500 objects larger than 10cm, 1 million objects between 1-10cm, and an extraordinary 130 million objects between 1mm to 1cm.