Latest News About Space Junk and Orbital Debris
Latest about space junk

SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for safety's sake
By Mike Wall published
SpaceX will soon lower the orbits of about 4,400 Starlink satellites, to decrease the threat they pose to other spacecraft and reduce space traffic overall.

Space debris led to an orbital emergency in 2025. Will anything change?
By Leonard David published
"Some will not change behavior until something bad happens."

Space debris: will it take a catastrophe for nations to take the issue seriously?
By Lesley Masters, Ian Whittaker published
When a piece of debris hits another object in space, it can also create more space debris, adding to the problem.

Doomed SpaceX Starlink satellite photographed from orbit
By Mike Wall published
We just got a great up-close look at a SpaceX Starlink satellite that recently suffered an anomaly in orbit, thanks to Vantor's WorldView-3 spacecraft.

These 2 companies are teaming up to offer insurance for space debris strikes on satellites
By Andrew Jones published
Odin Space and Arkisys are teaming up to provide customers with pioneering insurance for spacecraft specifically to cover space debris collision events.

A SpaceX Starlink satellite is tumbling and falling out of space after partial breakup in orbit
By Mike Wall published
One of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites suffered an anomaly in orbit on Wednesday (Dec. 17) that led to its partial breakup, according to the company.

'Crash Clock' reveals how soon satellite collisions would occur after a severe solar storm — and it's pretty scary
By Tereza Pultarova published
Satellites would likely begin colliding with each other or space junk in less than three days if they were to lose the ability to maneuver, for example due to an intense solar storm.

Chinese astronauts inspect damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft during 8-hour spacewalk (video)
By Mike Wall published
Two Chinese astronauts installed more debris shielding on the Tiangong space station and assessed the damage to the attached Shenzhou 20 spacecraft during a spacewalk on Tuesday (Dec. 9).

China's Shenzhou 21 astronauts are stranded aboard the Tiangong space station — for now
By Mike Wall published
The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 21 mission currently have no safe way to get home from the Tiangong space station in the event of an emergency. But that situation is likely to change soon.

China's Shenzhou 20 astronauts return to Earth on different spacecraft after finding window cracks in their own (video)
By Mike Wall last updated
The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 20 mission headed back to Earth today (Nov. 13) after a week-long delay caused by a debris strike on their spacecraft.
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