The term space debris in its largest sense includes all naturally occurring remains of solar and planetary processes: interplanetary dust, meteoroids, asteroids and comets. Man-made space debris in orbit around the Earth is commonly called orbital debris. Examples are dead satellites, spent rocket bodies, explosive bolt fragments, telescope lens covers, and the bits and pieces left over from satellite explosions and collisions. Because satellites can stay in orbit for over ten thousand years, care must be taken now in the world's policies concerning orbital debris. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, composed of representatives from the world's leading space agencies, developed agreements that minimize the creation of new debris. Most countries now deplete their spent rocket bodies and payloads of stored energy, thereby decreasing their possibility of exploding and minimizing the largest historical source of debris. Other topics, such as forced de-orbiting of satellites, continue to be discussed in an international effort to control space debris.
Space Debris
2001
3 pages
Report
No indication
English
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