According to a recent report from the European Space Agency, the situation with pollution of near-Earth space continues to worsen. There are currently at least 6600 tons of space waste in low Earth orbit (at an altitude of 160 to 2000 km). Just a year ago, this figure was about 6000 tons, which indicates a rapid growth of the problem, “MIR 24” reports with reference to New Atlas.

Experts note that space debris poses a serious threat to functioning satellites and consists of a variety of objects. Sources of contamination include fragments formed during payload explosions during launches, deliberately discarded elements (for example, protective covers of optical instruments), as well as spent stages of launch vehicles, bodies, casings and propulsion systems. Additional debris is created as a result of collisions or explosions of spacecraft.

According to scientists, even millimeter fragments pose a significant danger to space technology. There are more than 1,2 million objects larger than a centimeter in near-Earth space, each of which is capable of generating many new fragments upon collision. It is because of such incidents that the number of debris increased by 3000 units in 2024.

The study revealed a worrying trend: at an altitude of 550 km, the concentration of space debris is equal to the number of active satellites. At the same time, there are still no mandatory requirements for cleaning up space debris at the international level. Space agencies are guided only by recommendations to reduce the rate of pollution.