Earth's Orbital Junkyard Grows as Debris Threatens Satellites and Researchers Seek Cleanup Solutions

The European Space Agency updated its tally of orbital debris on Nov. 2, 2026, and the numbers describe a crowded place that is mostly invisible. About 230 million objects between 1 millimeter and 1 centimeter are circling Earth, along with 1.5 million objects between 1 and 10 centimeters. Another 68,450 or so are larger than 10 centimeters, a count that includes working spacecraft. At speeds that can exceed 17,000 mph, even the small pieces can badly damage a functioning satellite.

The agency counts roughly 19,610 satellites in orbit, of which about 15,800 still work. That leaves thousands that no longer do, drifting alongside spent rocket parts and fragments from earlier breakups. In a NASA visualization of tracked objects as of Jan. 1, 2019, about 95% of the dots were debris rather than active satellites. NASA enlarged the dots so they could be seen, and the image leaves out the vast majority of fragments too small to track individually.

Mark Moretto, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, studies the long-term sustainability of orbit. His concern is debris too small to track but big enough to disable a spacecraft. "The risk with space is we don't have cleanup crews, right?" he said. A collision between two large objects can produce thousands of new fragments, a cascade known as Kessler syndrome. In a September 2026 analysis, ESA warned that the debris population could keep growing through collisions even if no further satellites were launched, and that some orbital regions could become unsafe or unusable. Satellites underpin GPS, weather forecasting and communications.

Astronomers are already feeling the crowding. Arun Kannawadi, an assistant research professor of physics at Duke University, studies stars and galaxies from telescope images, and passing satellites that reflect sunlight leave bright streaks across them. The streaks can be digitally masked, but masking removes information. "Every time we have to mask them, we lose some some precious data that we are taking," he said. He worries rare discoveries could be hidden behind the streaks as traffic grows.

That growth may accelerate. SpaceX, which runs the largest constellation through Starlink, reported in an Oct. 6 update that it operates more than 11,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. It also described plans that could eventually reach up to 100,000 Starlink satellites and as many as 1 million satellites for orbital AI computing. Those are plans, not spacecraft already deployed. The company has acknowledged that rising traffic requires stronger safety measures and has urged operators to share more accurate location and trajectory data. It points to automated collision avoidance, a tracking network called Stargaze, and low operating altitudes where atmospheric drag eventually pulls failed spacecraft down. It also says it retires satellites at risk of losing maneuverability, even working ones.

Avoiding collisions, though, does nothing about the fragments already up there. In October, the U.K. Space Agency announced a £61 million contract with ClearSpace to build a spacecraft that can capture two dead satellites and remove them from orbit. Launch is scheduled for 2029, with both removals targeted by 2032. Robotic claws would grab satellites never designed to be caught and guide them toward reentry, where they would burn up. Taking out two satellites will not noticeably shrink the debris population; the aim is to prove technology that could later handle larger abandoned craft and rocket parts, the objects Moretto says could generate the most debris if they collide. The U.K. government also envisions refuelable, reusable servicing spacecraft.

Reentry brings its own question. Burning satellites release metals such as aluminum, which can form particles like aluminum oxide in the upper atmosphere. Scientists are investigating whether growing amounts could affect atmospheric chemistry, including processes involving the ozone layer. Moretto notes that meteoroid material arrives daily, but spacecraft composition differs, so the effects remain an open research question. Engineers are also looking at designs that burn up in less disruptive ways.

Moretto's own research looks at money. Under a deposit system modeled on returnable bottles, a company would pay when launching a satellite and get the money back after removing it from orbit. A recent study he took part in modeled participation by just 20% of satellites and found meaningful gains in long-term orbital sustainability. He also studies the economics of active debris removal through NASA-funded research. Unresolved are who pays, how international operators would join, and how responsibility would be enforced among countries and private companies. With launches rising, researchers say those questions are getting more urgent.