Space Debris

A Russian anti-satellite weapon test this week demonstrated just how extreme the space junk threat is in orbit today. Why it matters: As space gets more crowded, events like a missile destroying a satellite, an explosion of a defunct spacecraft or a satellite-to-satellite attack could create debris that disrupts communications…

A "reckless and irresponsible" Russian weapons test has created more than 1,500 pieces of debris now endangering the seven crew aboard the International Space Station, US officials have said. Crew members were forced to take emergency measures on Monday after debris floated dangerously close by - and took cover in…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A Russian weapons test created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk now threatening the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station, according to U.S. officials who called the strike reckless and irresponsible. The State Department confirmed Monday that the debris was from an old…

On Monday, astronauts on the International Space Station had to seek safety aboard their transport craft when the station passed uncomfortably close to a field of orbital debris. According to the Associated Press, US Space Command started tracking the space junk in the early hours of the morning. The situation…

Mission Control says the threat might go on for several more days and continue to interrupt the astronauts’ work. Space junk has threatened seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) – home to four Americans, one German and two Russians, forcing them to seek shelter in their docked capsules…

Orbiting space junk identified as debris from a Russian arms test threatened the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Monday, forcing them to seek shelter in their docked capsules and disrupting their work. In this image from video provided by NASA, the Expedition 66 crew poses for a…

Russia tested an anti-satellite missile on Monday, the State Department and the Pentagon said, creating a large cloud of debris that, according to NASA, endangered the International Space Station, its crew and could go on to threaten other satellites. Why it matters: Weapon tests in space can generate thousands of…

Home News Seven astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter in their transport spacecraft early Monday (Nov. 15) when the station passed uncomfortably closed to orbital debris, according to reports. The space junk passes began in the pre-dawn hours of Monday and the International Space Station…

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The fifth Epsilon rocket blasts off from the Uchinoura Space Center on Nov. 9 (Japanese time). Credit: JAXA A Japanese Epsilon rocket launched nine small satellites into orbit Nov. 8, deploying technology to prove out ways to eliminate space debris, a miniature lab for biological experiments, and a potpourri of…