rediff.com
News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » News » China dumps most debris into space: Report
This article was first published 13 years ago

China dumps most debris into space: Report

Last updated on: August 16, 2010 13:25 IST

Image: The Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship, the Long-March II-F rocket are transferred to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Launch Center in Gansu province of China
Photographs: China Daily/ Reuters

China, a relative newcomer to the space age, has topped the list of countries contributing to space debris, reports a study by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

China accounts for 40 percent of the space debris, followed by the United States of America, which produces 27.5 percent. Russia stands at the third position, with 25.5 percent of space debris, the study showed, reports Discovery News.

Text: ANI

..

Blame is on the Chinese military

Image: The Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship is seen at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province of China
Photographs: China Daily / Reuters

And the credit for catapulting China to the top of the orbital garbage heap goes to the Chinese military, which deliberately destroyed a defunct weather satellite in 2007 to test a missile. The explosion created more than 2,800 pieces of free-flying shrapnel.

Overall, there's more than 10,000 dead spacecraft, rocket bodies and other relics of the space age circling Earth, all of which present a formidable challenge for governments, researchers and companies wishing to operate satellites for remote sensing, science, communications and other services.

'10,000 dead spacecrafts, other relics circling Earth'

Image: A young boy looks at a model Chinese spaceship displayed at an exhibition center in Shanghai
Photographs: Reuters
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that Russian scientists have proposed the creation of an international airspace system for monitoring the near-Earth space environment, an idea that already has support internationally.