Humans have not only congested the earth but they have done it to space as well. In a 2023 study by the Indian Space Research Organisation, 27,000 categorised space objects were discovered, with 80 per cent of them being junk.
The ISRO chairman said that there are millions of space objects which are less than 10 cm in size and are uncatalogued which poses a threat to space assets. Similar threat originates from anti-satellite tests which only exist with China, United States, India and Russia.
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle that was launched on July 30 was also caught-up in a launch issue. An NDTV report quoting ISRO chief said that there was congestion in space right above Sriharikota and the launch had to be postponed by one minute. In technical terms it is described as “space conjunction at the 500km plus orbit which is densely packed with satellites”.
The launch of “Made in India, Made for Singapore” on July 30 also witnessed India conducting a distinctive orbit lowering experiment for the spent stage of the PSLV rocket. PSLV was purposely lowered to a 300 km orbit in its fourth stage with the help of specific manoeuvres. It was a part of ISRO’s ‘Swachh Antriksh Abhiyan’, NDTV reported.
The US Space Command believes that there are 26,783 space objects of 10 cm or greater and millions of smaller items such as scraped off paint flakes, etc. using advanced radar, optical sensors, and orbiting satellites.
According to ISRO’s Space Situational Assessment Report, released in March, about 40% of space objects belong to the United States, 28% to Russia and the former Soviet Union, and 19% to China. Whereas, India has contributed only 217 space objects, accounting for 0.8% of worldwide space debris.