The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling for the introduction of measures to prevent further space debris accumulating in orbit. ESA warns that there is a 1 in 25 chance of the Hubble Space Telescope being seriously damaged by space debris during its 17-year life.
There are 8,000 pieces of space debris measuring 10cm (4in) in diameter, and 150,000 pieces of at least 1.2cm across, with possibly millions of tiny particles, including flakes of paint and solid propellant dust, according to ESA.
Travelling at speeds of thousands of km/h, a 1.2cm piece of debris could destroy a satellite, while debris 10cm in diameter could destroy the Space Shuttle. Over the past year, the Shuttle orbiter Discovery has made six evasive manoeuvres to avoid colliding with large pieces of debris, most of which are spent rocket stages, which represent 41% of the debris.
Meanwhile, the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) was altered by 1.6km on 26 October to avoid a spent rocket stage from the Pegasus booster.
Source: Flight International
