Space Debris

 What is Space Debris ?

• Collection of artificial objects in orbit around the Earth that have lost their utility or are no longer in use.
• Include non-functional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-space-junk-problem-is-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-gnarlier/

Concern 

• Around 27,000 pieces of “space junk” are being tracked by NASA but over 100 trillion untracked pieces of old satellites circle the planet.

 Initiative to reduce the Space Debris 

• De–orbiting means bringing dead satellites back to Earth.
• But companies are not incentivised to clean up orbits or to include de-orbiting functions in satellites.
• ‘Project NETRA’ is an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.

Practice Questions for Prelims

In the context of space technology, what is “Bhuvan”, recently in the news? (2010)

(a) A mini satellite launched by ISRO for promoting the distance education in India
(b) The name given to the next Moon Impact Probe, for Chandrayaan-II
(c) A geoportal of ISRO with 3D imaging capabilities of India
(d) A space telescope developed by India
Ans: (c)

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