Target of Europe’s space junk cleanup mission hit by… more space junk

A piece of space junk being monitored by the European Space Agency as part of a mission to remove space junk has been hit by another piece of space junk. The collision highlights the mounting threat of space debris, and the need to deal with it sooner rather than later. The ESA announced this week that the US’ 18th Space Defense Squadron had detected debris in the vicinity of an object named VESPA, earmarked for removal from orbit. The most likely cause of the debris was the “hypervelocity impact of a small, untracked object” smashing into VESPA, said the ESA.  …

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