- NEWS FEATURE
Zombie satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbits around the planet. Researchers are working to reduce the threats posed by more than 20,000 objects in space.
On Monday 2 July, the CryoSat-2 spacecraft was orbiting as usual, just over 700 kilometres above Earth’s surface. But that day, mission controllers at the European Space Agency (ESA) realized they had a problem: a piece of space debris was hurtling uncontrollably towards the €140-million (US$162-million) satellite, which monitors ice on the planet.
Access options
Access through your institution
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 52 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.83 per issue
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Nature 561, 24-26 (2018)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06170-1
Related Articles
Falling space debris traced to 1998 lunar mission
Private firms spy a market in spotting space junk
Telescope will track space junk
Subjects
Latest on:
Jobs
-
Assistant Professor in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Chemical Engineering
The Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position.
Pasadena, California
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (Caltech) - Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
-
Associate/Senior Editor, BMC Biomedical Technologies
Role: Associate/Senior Editor, BMC Biomedical Technologies Location: New York or Shanghai- Hybrid, Permanent Closing date: September 25, 2026 Abo...
New York City, New York (US)
Springer Nature Ltd
-
Dongguan Institute of Materials Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
High-Level Talents Recruitment – We-Scientist Plan
Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China
Dongguan Institute of Materials Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (DIMST, CAS)
-
Tenure Track Assistant Professor – Gene Regulation / Molecular Biology / Omics
Dallas, Texas (US)
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern Medical Center)
-
Tenure-Track Faculty Positions for Physician-Scientists
Tohoku University invites applications for Tenure-Track Principal Investigator (PI) positions in medicine and dentistry.
Japan (JP)
Tohoku University