More than 14,000 satellites, 120 million pieces of debris; Traffic jam of concern in space

 

 

Earth's low Earth orbit is in dangerous traffic due to satellites and satellite debris, according to a report. More than 14,000 artificial satellites, including 3,500 expired satellites, and 120 million pieces of debris are scattered around in low Earth orbit. Low Earth orbit is the region of space where satellites orbit closest to the Earth's surface.

Traffic in low Earth orbit is becoming an obstacle to sustainable space exploration. More than 14,000 artificial satellites and several hundred thousand pieces of space debris are a concern for operations in this region. The scattered debris from past launches poses a serious threat to even currently operating satellites. This includes space debris from collisions in low-Earth orbit.