India has 217 objects moving around the Earth

Space debris up risk of collision with satellites. Representation pic

India has 103 active or defunct spacecraft and 114 objects categorised as ‘space debris' in orbit and has embarked on research to reduce such fragments from outer space.

"Presently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has taken up research activities to study the feasibility and technologies required to undertake active debris removal (ADR)," Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh recently told parliament.

According to Orbital Debris Quarterly News issued in March by NASA, India had 103 spacecraft, including active and defunct satellites, and 114 space debris objects, including spent rocket bodies orbiting the earth. So, the country has a total of 217 space objects orbiting the earth.

Singh said Active Debris Removal was one of the active methods suggested by the Space Debris Research Community to contain the growth of space debris objects.

A top ISRO official had told a technology conclave last year that the space agency was working on futuristic technologies such as self-eating rockets and vanishing satellites as part of measures to reduce space debris.

According to the Orbital Debris Quarterly News, the US has 4,144 spacecraft (active and defunct), and 5,126 objects that can be categorised as space debris in the earth's orbit. China has 517 spacecraft, active and defunct, and 3,854 objects, including spent rocket bodies, orbiting Earth.

Singh said ISRO has also set up the Directorate Space Situational Awareness and Management at its headquarters to deal with issues related to space debris.

US, China have way too many

US: 4,144 spacecraft (active and defunct); 5,126 space debris objects
China: 517 spacecraft; 3,854 space debris objects
India: 103 spacecraft; 114 space debris objects

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