By BlueShift | 2025-06-02

Earth's orbital environment is turning into a dangerously congested celestial junkyard as satellites flood the skies.

A boom in commercial, military and governmental launches is fueling a surge in space debris -- and with it, growing fears of catastrophic collisions and crashing wreckage.

Without strong mitigation strategies and international cooperation, debris could threaten the safety of both current and future space missions.

In low-Earth orbit, where atmospheric drag is minimal, debris can persist for decades or even centuries. Any satellite, rocket or launch component not actively removed can become a long-term hazard.

Failed launches, in particular, create high-velocity debris fields that pose serious risks -- each fragment capable of damaging or destroying functional spacecraft.

As satellite activity grows worldwide, so does the number of leftover components in orbit.

Orbital debris specialist Jim Shell noted the contribution to this congestion by China's two, 10,000-plus satellite megaconstellations -- Guowang ("National Net") and Qianfan ("Thousand Sails").

"There will be some 1,000+ PRC [People's Republic of China] launches over the next several years deploying these constellations," he told SpaceNews in April. "For both constellations, the rocket upper stages are being left in high altitude orbits --generally with orbital lifetimes greater than 100 years."

Orbiting junk

Earth's orbit is cluttered with over 100 million debris objects ranging in size from tiny chips more than 1mm diameter to defunct satellites weighing more than nine tons. Even tiny fragments, traveling at speeds exceeding 28,000km per hour, can cause catastrophic damage upon impact.

In addition, orbiting junk fragments can collide with each other and generate thousands of new pieces -- a phenomenon known as the Kessler Syndrome.

This growing hazard is already impacting real-world operations. On April 30, the International Space Station had to maneuver to avoid debris from a Long March rocket launched 20 years earlier -- marking the 41st such avoidance.

In early 2025 alone, several instances of space debris crashes made headlines.

In January, a piece of satellite debris 2.5 meters in diameter and weighing 500kg landed on farmland in a Kenyan village. Around the same time, debris from a rocket test littered the beaches of Turks and Caicos and led to the grounding of numerous flights.

In February, a cylindrical piece of rocket debris crashed in a rural area in Poland.

In March, the US Federal Aviation Administration reported that 240 flights were disrupted because of falling space debris from a failed launch.

Then in May, a Soviet-era spacecraft that had orbited Earth for more than 50 years reentered the atmosphere and crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Space stewardship

Effective space stewardship is no longer optional; it is essential for the safety of both space infrastructure and life on Earth, space agencies say.

As some nations continue to prioritize rapid satellite deployment in pursuit of space dominance, the shared risks of debris and congestion affect everyone.

Whether from loss of vital communications or military satellites -- or the physical danger of debris crashing into populated areas -- the threat crosses national borders.

Recognizing the peril, the US government introduced Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) in 2018.

"The United States should pursue active debris removal as a necessary long-term approach to ensure the safety of flight operations in key orbital regimes," the directive states.

It emphasizes the importance of developing "norms of behavior, best practices, and standards for safe operations in space to minimize the space debris environment and promote data sharing and coordination of space activities."

The European Space Agency echoed similar concerns about space junk in its 2025 Space Environment Report, identifying orbital debris as a major issue and outlining future best practices.