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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Orbits & Gravity

Space debris

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

nounCommon term

In astronomy & space, space debris means: Dead satellites, spent rocket stages and fragments from collisions or explosions that stay in orbit around Earth and can damage working spacecraft.

In Turkish: uzay çöpü, uzay enkazı

How it is used

Also called 'orbital debris' or, informally, 'space junk'. Agencies track debris, warn operators about possible collisions and ask that satellites be removed at the end of their life. The space station sometimes moves to avoid a piece of debris.

Example sentences

  1. The station fired its engines to dodge a piece of space debris.

  2. Because space debris travels at several kilometres per second, even a fleck of paint can cause damage.

Common collocations

  • track space debris
  • debris avoidance manoeuvre
  • orbital debris
  • space junk
  • debris field
  • low Earth orbitAn orbit relatively close to Earth, usually below about 2,000 km. The space station and most Earth observation satellites fly in low Earth orbit.
  • satelliteAn object that orbits a planet or another body. Most often it means a machine sent into orbit for communication, navigation, weather forecasting or observation.
  • re-entryThe return of a spacecraft from space into Earth's atmosphere, when the air squeezed in front of it heats its outer surface to very high temperatures.
  • orbitThe curved path that an object such as a planet, moon or satellite follows around another object because of gravity. As a verb, it means to move along this path.

More terms: Orbits & Gravity

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