space junk

Discarded pieces of rockets and old satellites that circulate in Earth's orbit. The original life span of a satellite is on average seven years; there are hundreds of inoperable satellites circling earth :( 

Historical perspective: In December 2013, NASA estimated there are more than 100,000 pieces of man-made space debris orbiting Earth.  

In 2020, SpaceX's efforts to build the orbital satellite platform Starlink, put 240 highly reflective satellites in the night sky, interfering with astronomers' ability to see into space and contributing to a new kind of light pollution everywhere. A record 2,877 satellites were launched into orbit in 2023. As of March 2024, there were 5,504 Starlink satellites in orbit.  

In 2024, there are now 12,597 satellites in Earth’s orbit. Experts warn that this unprecedented crowding raises the odds of collisions that generate clouds of space junk, potentially rendering parts of the planet’s orbit unusable, no thanks to Elon Musk, where is the regulation?