Policy & sustainability · Sustainability
Orbital Debris
The growing population of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments of past collisions and explosions that circle the Earth. Travelling at kilometres per second, even a small piece can destroy an operational spacecraft, and there are millions of untracked fragments.
Highlights
- ›Millions of fragments circling the Earth at kilometres per second
Treaties, bodies & topics
Across space policy
Knowledge connections
- Associated withSatellites
- Associated withDebris Mitigation
- Associated withThe Kessler Syndrome
- Associated withSpace Situational Awareness
- Associated withDebris Mitigation
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.