Space question
What is the estimation for how much debris is orbiting our planet
Asked by 4xlvy
Estimates for space debris around Earth (orbital debris) are roughly:
~36,000+ objects larger than 10 cm (trackable from Earth)
~1 million objects between 1–10 cm
~100+ million fragments smaller than 1 cm
These include defunct satellites, rocket stages, and fragments from collisions or explosions.
Even tiny pieces are dangerous because they travel at ~28,000 km/h, meaning they can seriously damage spacecraft like the Hubble Space Telescope or the International Space Station.