Space Debris

With nations vying each other to put satellites, shuttles and stations in orbits, outer space is getting dangerously littered. Space agencies across the world have initiated discussions on a mechanism for active removal of space debris through which high-volume waste could be brought back to earth. NASA has a department monitoring space debris, unlike ISRO. Remnants of upper stages of rockets that separate in the space constitute 45 to 50% of space debris. Dumping from space stations add to it. There are more than 30,000 objects of 10cm and above size strewn around earth’s immediate space. These can damage operational spacecraft, breaking their thermal protection.