Hundreds of Millions of Space Junk Pieces Orbit Earth: Here's Their Size

The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) reported that space debris fell into the Indian Ocean on Saturday, July 30, 2022.

"Large space debris, the remains of a Chinese (People's Republic of China) CZ5B launch rocket weighing approximately 20 tons and measuring 30 meters, has been confirmed to have undergone atmospheric re-entry in the Indian Ocean last night, July 30, 2022, at 23:45 WIB," BRIN stated in its press release on Sunday, July 31, 2022.

According to BRIN's monitoring, this space debris passed over Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and the Philippines. However, the rocket debris is estimated to have ultimately fallen into the ocean west of Sarawak, Malaysia.

"There may be fragments scattered along the final trajectory; its orbit crossed southern Sumatra. If any residents see a falling celestial object around 23:45 WIB, please report it to BRIN's Space Research Center via email at prantariksa@brin.go.id," added BRIN.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are currently hundreds of millions of pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth.

Here is an estimate of the size and number of space debris as of July 11, 2022:

* 1 mm-1 cm: 130 million pieces
* 1 cm-10 cm: 1 million pieces
* >10 cm: 36,500 pieces

According to ESA, space debris smaller than 1 cm is relatively harmless. However, larger debris can be lethal.

"Objects (space debris) measuring 1 cm to 10 cm, roughly the diameter of a salad bowl, pose a real concern. They are too small and too numerous to track individually, but they could destroy or kill anything they hit," ESA explained on its official website.

To address this threat, ESA is encouraging space agencies in each country to cooperate.

"International cooperation in the field of space debris, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is excellent. Every reasonable effort must be made to protect future generations," ESA stated.