Over 6,600 tons of space junk floating around in Earth’s orbit

Over 6,600 tons of space junk currently orbit Earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), between 100 and 1,200 miles above the surface, New Atlas reported citing the European Space Agency (ESA).

This marks an increase from 6,000 tons reported in 2023 by NASA. Space debris includes fragments from satellite explosions, collisions, rocket bodies, and discarded mission-related objects. There are at least 1.2 million debris pieces larger than 1 cm in orbit, each capable of causing damage comparable to a hand grenade.

In 2024 alone, over 3,000 new debris objects were tracked due to fragmentation events. Currently, no international laws mandate debris cleanup, but ESA and industry guidelines promote debris mitigation through spacecraft design and end-of-life disposal. ESA plans to launch the ClearSpace-1 mission in 2028 to remove the PROBA-1 satellite, marking one of the first active debris removal efforts. UK and Japanese companies are also developing debris removal services.