Space Debris as a Weapon

Abstract

We often look up to the night sky to see shooting stars, the International Space Station, and satellites streaking across the sky. There are thousands of objects orbiting Earth, and within minutes under a dark sky, both satellites and space debris can be seen with the naked eye. You can also use a sky tracker app on your cellphone held up to the night sky to see spacecraft and space debris moving across the sky. Space debris includes operating manmade spacecraft and satellites, space junk (defunct spacecraft or individual objects caused by a collision or explosion), as well as natural objects like meteoroids that orbit about the Sun.