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Posted on 05/17/2026 12:36:29 PM PDT by DFG
Nearly half the manmade objects orbiting Earth are chunks of “uncontrollable” space junk — with just three countries fueling the problem and endangering future space travel, a shocking new study found.
At least 15,587 of the 33,269 tracked objects circling the planet are discarded debris from space launches — meaning a whopping 47% of the stuff hurtling around the planet is potentially hazardous junk, according to a May report from the engineering supply company Accu.
Those objects include at least 2,396 discarded rocket bodies — sometimes hundreds of feet across in length — 12,550 expended launch components which can vary in size and shape, and 641 objects which haven’t been classified.
The other 17,682 objects are “payloads” — satellites ranging from the likes of SpaceX’s StarLink networks to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
But some of those payload satellites are out of commission, which only adds to the amount of junk orbiting Earth.
And most alarmingly, many of those bodies of heavy metal junk are whipping around the planet at nearly 20,000 mph every day — posing an enormous risk to other space missions, experts said.
“Nearly half of all tracked objects already fall into categories with no control or purpose,” wrote the Accu report, which collated data from the US Space Force’s Space-Track.org for its study.
“As a result, spacecraft must now be designed with greater tolerance to debris impacts and more robust shielding, as even a tiny fragment can destroy an entire mission,” the report said.
The warning is no exaggeration: In 2016, a fleck of paint or metal just a fraction of a millimeter across left a 7mm-long gouge in a window of the International Space Station.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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We need “Operation Vacu-Suck”
Back in the day, worked some on research into the effects of very high speed micro meteorite impacts.
It is amazing what a grain of sand can do when it hits something at 30,000 mph.
Yep, they can be turned very quickly into devastating weapons.
Largest Discarded Rocket Bodies in Space Debris
The largest discarded rocket bodies in orbit are the 22 spent upper stages from the Russian/Soviet Zenit‑2 rocket, each with a dry mass of about 8,900 kg (19,621 lb) Guinness World Records. These stages are the most massive pieces of orbital debris ever recorded, though their actual mass is higher because they still carry leftover fuel and oxidizer.
Zenit‑2 Upper Stage Details
Dry mass: ~8,900 kg (no fuel) Guinness World Records
With fuel: significantly heavier (exact figure not specified, but all contain residual propellant) Guinness World Records
Dimensions: ~11.04 m (36 ft 2 in) long, ~3.9 m (12 ft 9 in) in diameter — roughly the size of a double‑deck bus Guinness World Records
Launch period: 1985–2004 Guinness World Records
Why they remain in orbit: Unlike modern upper stages, Zenit‑2 stages did not perform a final re‑entry burn after orbital insertion, so they stayed in space with leftover propellant Guinness World Records.
Why They’re a Major Hazard
Massive size: Even without fuel, they are large enough to be a navigation hazard and can cause catastrophic damage if they collide with operational satellites Guinness World Records.
Propellant risk: Corroded seals or valves can allow fuel/oxidizer mixing, leading to explosive fragmentation — a cause of about 44% of recorded orbital debris events Guinness World Records.
Collision history: In March 2021, a piece from a 1996 Zenit‑2 stage collided with the Chinese Yunhai‑1‑02 weather satellite, destroying it Guinness World Records.
Other Notable Large Rocket Bodies
While the Zenit‑2 stages are the heaviest, other large rocket bodies include:
Fengyun‑1C (2007 ASAT test) – ~3,549 pieces Wikipedia
Kosmos 2251 (2009 collision with Iridium 33) – ~1,716 pieces Wikipedia
Kosmos 1408 (2021 ASAT test) – ~1,562 pieces Wikipedia
Long March 6A upper stage (2022–2024) – 700–900+ pieces Wikipedia
These are all large in terms of number of fragments, but the Zenit‑2 stages stand out for their single‑object mass.
In summary: The Zenit‑2 upper stages are the largest discarded rocket bodies in orbit, each weighing over 8,900 kg dry, and remain a critical concern for space safety due to their size, mass, and potential for explosive breakup Guinness World Records.
Few remember the TV series by Buck Henry called “Quark” starring Richard Benjamin as the Commander of the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol. He hunted down drifting space trash bags and in space vehicle precision maneuvers came up to them and said “we have a grab.”
It is a huge problem and difficult to clean up. A small fragment at high velocity has tremendous energy and destructive potential.
They have always been dangerous & now are a bigger problem than ever. If we could only put them in a decaying & CONTROLLED orbit, we could either drop them in a safe spot or in some cases, send them back where they came from.
So somebody could put a large amount of small washers in orbit and cause havoc with all the satellite surveillance systems?
Future space travel??? Yeah... That’s what everybody should be worried about.
Earn money! RECYCLE
Well, Devo was 50 years ahead of time on that topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS4XeOh9yeY&list=RDsS4XeOh9yeY&start_radio=1
Here is what it is like....
https://youtu.be/RmG5tUCrrsA?t=66
“The warning is no exaggeration: In 2016, a fleck of paint or metal just a fraction of a millimeter across left a 7mm-long gouge in a window of the International Space Station.”
Safelite Repair / Safelite Replace : “We’ll come to you ”
‘It’s Mega Maid. She’s gone from suck to blow.’
Never trust government to do anything unless the public sector can’t, won’t or shouldn’t do for itself. Andy Griffith starred in a TV show in the early 80s about a space junk salvage operation called “Salvage 1.” Monetize the collection of all that junk, then let Elon Musk or Richard Branson (et Al) turn it into a tax-paying comercial enterprise.
“Operation Vacu-Suck”
Think she’s planning to run again ‘28 ..
An international treaty ought to be instituted that all future items launched into space should have de-orbiting ability.
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