US, Russia and China made up for 88 percent of space debris, India among the lowest contributors

Over 25,000 space objects are orbiting the earth

There are 25,182 pieces of space debris in the lower earth orbits, within 2,000 kilometres (km) of earth’s surface, according to the latest issue of Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 

The report published by NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office also revealed that the size of these debris is larger than 10 centimetres.

These 25,182 pieces of space debris, include 8,171 active and defunct spacecrafts and 17,011 objects categorised as “spent rocket bodies and other cataloged debris” as of February 4 of 2022.

Most of them are space debris

United States of America, China and Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan are currenlty the biggest contributor of space debris, the report has revealed.

The biggest contributors

What about USA

The USA has 4,144 active or defunct spacecrafts and 5,216 objects categorised as debris. CIS stands next in line with 1,551 spacecrafts and 7,032 space debris. China has 517 spacecrafts and 3,854 such space debris. These three regions make up for over 88 percent of space debris

India’s contribution among the lowest in the world

India's contribution to space debris, on the other hand, has fallen to the lowest levels in the last four years. The country only has 217 objects in space, including 103 spacecrafts and 114 space debris. India’s contribution to space debris had increased sharply in 2019 after the country’s first-ever anti-satellite test.

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