Space debris: evolution in pictures (Forwarded)
- From: Andrew Yee <ayee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:20:25 -0400
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
10 April 2008
Space debris: evolution in pictures
Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008,
approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of
which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on
interplanetary trajectories.
Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational -- roughly
45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the
ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth
as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or
otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are
due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than
10).
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESOC/SEMN2VM5NDF_mg_1.html ]
.
- Prev by Date: Envisat makes first ever observation of regionally elevated CO2 from manmade emissions (Forwarded)
- Next by Date: Green light awaited for Europe's Mars mission (Forwarded)
- Previous by thread: Envisat makes first ever observation of regionally elevated CO2 from manmade emissions (Forwarded)
- Next by thread: Green light awaited for Europe's Mars mission (Forwarded)
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
