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Space TrashSpace trash, or space junk, refers to human-made debris—pieces of satellites, rockets, and other spacecraft—orbiting Earth. Virtually all of the trash is traveling approximately 28,000 kilometers (17,500 miles) per hour, posing a significant threat of damaging active spacecraft and satellites. The vast majority of the debris is tiny—estimates suggest there are more than 100 million pieces of space trash larger than 1 millimeter (0.039 inches) but smaller than 1 centimeter (0.39 inches), such as flecks of paint that have chipped off a spacecraft. There are also roughly 1 million objects between 1 and 10 centimeters and more than 35,000 items larger than 10 centimeters. Thousands of pieces of space trash fall out of orbit each year, and, while the majority burn up in the atmosphere, some make it to the surface. As of 2025, there is no international agreement regarding who is responsible for cleaning up space trash, but there is some optimism that the private sector will develop cost-effective solutions to remove space debris.Explore Space Trash

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Space trash forced astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelterAn inactive Russian satellite broke up into nearly 200 pieces, prompting astronauts on the space station to take shelter in a docked spacecraft and a capsule that could be used to escape in case of emergency. The Guardian Space trash could be cleaned up using a giant inflatable bag California-based TransAstra has developed and tested a device called Capture Bag, intended to catch anything from small rocks to house-sized boulders. The company claims its system could also be adapted for asteroid capture and mining. CNN Scientists have proposed using lasers to push space trash into Earth's atmosphereSuch projects would allow most debris to burn up and no longer pose a risk to active satellites, telescopes, and astronauts on space stations. Enacting these plans would require substantial investments from private and governmental space agencies and overcoming international laws that prevent the removal of another country's space equipment. 1440 Space trash is making low Earth orbit increasingly dangerous for spacecraftMillions of fragments from satellites, rockets, and other spacecraft that are no longer operational move thousands of meters per second as they circle Earth. Even a piece of debris a centimeter in size can cause mission-ending damage to space stations, telescopes, and astronauts. 1440 Space archaeology studies space trash in the context of heritage and social meaningSome orbiting objects, such as Elon Musk's Tesla, have symbolic or historical importance, despite being functionally worthless. The oldest human-made object in Earth's orbit is Vanguard 1, a grapefruit-sized satellite launched in 1958. The strangest may be an experimental, inflatable space station containing live cockroaches. Ologies with Alie Ward By 2028, a space trash-avoiding maneuver is expected to occur every 18 secondsAs the number of active Starlink satellites increases, greater efforts will be required to keep low Earth orbit free of debris, sparking a new technological space race. NASA has found that using lasers to manage small and medium debris could save up to $9B over 30 years. Morning Brew A financial analysis of space trash cleanup strategies identified long-term benefitsDespite significant initial costs, a NASA report found that removing small debris would provide savings from preventing mission-ending damage, which would offset expenses within a decade. Financial benefits would also come from using less fuel for maneuvers to avoid collisions with debris. Federation of American Scientists You are 65,000 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be hit by space trashIn 2023, about 1,500 pieces of space junk fell to Earth, with most consisting of payload fragmentation debris. The vast majority that falls back to Earth burns up before reaching the surface, making it three times less likely to be struck by space trash than by a meteorite. Deutsche Welle The 1978 prediction of the Kessler syndrome popularized the risks of space trashA paper published by NASA scientists Don Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais described a scenario where the density of objects in orbit becomes so high that collisions between them create a cascading effect of runaway debris, preventing future space travel. The risks were confirmed from returned telescope parts showing debris impacts. The Aerospace Corporation There are trillions of pieces of space trash that are too small to be trackedAlthough scientists monitor more than 24,000 pieces of large orbital debris, space junk can be as small as a paint fleck. The density of this trash is steadily increasing with the growth of the space industry on Earth. Live Science In 2018, SpaceX launched a Tesla Roadster into heliocentric orbit for publicityAs of February 2023, the vehicle and its mannequin driver—dubbed "Starman"—have completed three and a quarter revolutions around the sun. One paper estimated that the car has a 22% chance of crashing into Earth within the next 15 million years. CNN Rising satellite numbers pose increased risks of planes being hit by falling debrisProjections of more than 100,000 satellites in space by the 2030s—eight times the number in 2025—highlight a growing threat to aviation. Experts suggest the odds could reach seven in 10,000 annually by 2035, alongside higher risks to people on the ground. MIT Technology Review Prolonged space travel significantly impacts multiple human body systemsAstronauts can lose 20% of their muscle mass after two weeks and 10% of their bone mass after six months in space. Decreased sharpness of eyesight and changes in neural connectivity, brain structure and gut bacteria have also been observed. BBC Stand-up became more popular during the Great DepressionThe stock market crash of 1929 caused vaudeville theaters to shutter. Audiences were looking for lighthearted distractions from the country’s financial problems, though, and stand-up became more popular, albeit in very different venues. NPR Apollo astronauts left personal artifacts, trash, and golf balls on the moonTo make room for moon rocks to be brought to Earth, a lunar "toss zone" was created, where items not deemed mission-critical were left behind, including the camera that broadcast Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. Space.com In 1994, fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into JupiterHubble captured the collisions, which created massive black impact sites visible from space. It represented the first time scientists could prepare for and observe an interplanetary collision in real time, allowing them to gather valuable information about Jupiter’s atmosphere. NASA Goddard Long before Coachella, Steve Wozniak attempted a similarly-minded festivalIn 1982, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak was on a hiatus from Apple after a near-fatal plane crash. In his spare time, he decided to throw a festival that would bring together cutting-edge music and technology—a Woodstock for the 1980s. The result was the US Festival, an early ancestor of Coachella that brought world-class acts like Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads, the Grateful Dead, and the Ramones to a rustic venue outside Los Angeles. Cult of Mac Play a space junk collection gameDeveloped by Astroscale, a company with a contract from the UK to remove satellites from orbit safely, the game enables players to simulate the company's planned COSMIC mission and test their space debris-catching skills. Astroscale Lasers could be the most cost-effective tool for clearing dangerous space debrisA NASA study found that lasers from ground- and space-based systems could utilize the momentum of light to safely push smaller debris out of their orbits. These systems would need to be accompanied by amendments to international space law, which prevents any nation from touching debris from another country, among other strategies. Vox Spacecraft remnants and human waste left behind on the moon add to the trash in spaceAs more countries reach the moon with successful probe landings and unsuccessful crashes, more materials are left behind, adding to the amount of trash that needs to be retrieved. A United Nations treaty declared the moon a common heritage of humanity, exempting any one country from exclusive responsibility for cleanup. PBS News Metal wreckage found in a Canadian farm turned out to be SpaceX spacecraft debrisThe pieces of the wreck included a 36-kilogram aluminum spear more than 2 meters long, and its origins were confirmed by satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. No government acknowledged or took accountability for the space trash, which SpaceX later quietly retrieved. Scientific American Commercializing space debris removal may follow the commercialization of launchesActive debris removal is likely to focus on larger derelict objects, which are more easily identified and yield better financial returns. One actively researched possibility involves using netting to capture derelict objects before towing them into a controlled descent into an ocean. Space.com A SpaceX spacecraft's battery debris survived reentry and crashed into a Florida homeAlthough NASA expected the debris to disintegrate after it was jettisoned from the International Space Station in 2024, the flight support component survived reentry. No injuries were reported from the incident. CNN Visualize the impact of satellites and space debris orbiting EarthAccording to NASA, approximately 9,000 metric tons of debris are orbiting Earth, with 70% of it located in low Earth orbit, where the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station reside. The growing reliance on space-based platforms for modern technologies, including Starlink satellites, increases the risk of debris collisions. Financial Times

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