Sixteen pieces of debris are currently being closely monitored.

A Russian rocket engine launched in 2007 has exploded in space. The well-known astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell reports this together with the US military on Twitter. The incident happened in mid-April. Sixteen associated debris is currently being closely monitored.

Ullage engine

According to McDowell, a so-called ullage engine exploded; a relatively small, independently powered rocket engine. As mentioned, it was launched in 2007 to put some Russian satellites into orbit around the Earth. “However, these engines don’t use all their fuel,” explains McDowell. “That’s why they can explode years or even decades later, leaving a bunch of debris in a very elliptical orbit.”

space debris

It means that with the explosion of the Russian rocket engine we are richer again with some pieces of space debris. And that’s bad news. Space debris lying around is currently a major problem. For example, our Earth is known to be shrouded in a curtain of discarded satellites, defunct rockets and other space debris. In total, there are 30,000 registered pieces of space debris larger than 10 cm orbit around our earth, ESA states in a recently released report† But there are also countless tiny, minuscule pieces of debris – ranging from rock or dust particles to paint blotches from satellites – orbiting the Earth. They are unfortunately too small to follow properly. And even these small pieces can cause damage if, for example, they collide with the ISS.

More and more often, collisions threaten to occur between scattered space debris. Image: ESA

Sixteen debris

Sixteen pieces of debris from the exploded Russian rocket engine are currently being followed closely. That can be added to 173 other debris objects dislodged during previous ullage engine detonations. According to McDowell, about 54 have already exploded in orbit around the Earth. “While 173 pieces of debris are being monitored, the actual number of debris is likely much higher,” the astrophysicist explains. “In higher orbits, space debris is more difficult to trace.”

Threat

The fact that the amount of space debris continues to increase is quite worrying. Because the more space debris comes in, the more collisions we can expect in the future, which in turn will lead to more space debris; a phenomenon known as Kessler syndrome. This means that the concentration of space debris around Earth becomes so great that collisions between objects set off a chain reaction, with each collision producing space debris that increases the chance of further collisions. Eventually, some areas of space will fill up with fast-moving space debris, effectively rendering these areas unusable. While this scenario should of course be avoided, some scientists argue that we are currently in the early stages of what is known as Kessler syndrome.

Action

According to ESA, it is therefore important that we take action. “The guidelines for the limitation of space debris should be more closely observed,” ESA writes. “In addition, more needs to be done to prevent explosions and collisions in orbit, and to safely and responsibly dispose of spacecraft that have come to the end of their mission.” Incidentally, this is being done more and more, ESA emphasizes. “An increasing number of attempts to remove defunct satellites are successful. But there is still work to be done. Too many discarded satellites remain in important orbits around the Earth, with no attempt to bring them down.”

ClearSpace-1

Another necessary step is to actively start cleaning up all the space debris lying around, ESA said. “We need to get existing, large debris objects out of crowded areas before they can shatter into debris that threatens spacecraft even decades later,” they write. ESA is putting its own words into action and is working on the so-called ClearSpace-1 mission, in which a rocket trap dumped around the earth will be cleaned up. Then it’s the turn of bigger and more challenging chunks. Ultimately, the ClearSpace-1 even has to pick multiple objects out of the sky at the same time.

Meanwhile, investigators will continue to monitor the 16 new debris from the exploded Russian rocket engine so that action can be taken in the event of a collision. “While this event is predictable and well understood, it is still deeply unfortunate that it happened,” McDowell concluded.