SpaceX rocket explodes, scattering debris over Florida and the Bahamas | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
News Today Logo

SpaceX rocket explodes, scattering debris over Florida and the Bahamas

Posted 08 Mar 2025

2 min read

This incident highlights the growing risks associated with the expansion of satellite mega-constellations like Starlink and Kuiper.

  • Space debris refers to non-functional, artificial objects, including fragments, in Earth's orbit or re-entering the atmosphere.

Governance and Legal Issues with Space Debris Management

  • Lack of Definition: There is no universally accepted legal definition of space debris in international treaties. 
  • Liability: Disputes over whether debris qualifies as a "space object" under the 1972 Liability Convention. Liability becomes unclear when debris is no longer under a state's jurisdiction.
  • Enforcement:  Many older satellites lack deorbiting mechanisms, and compliance with the UN's voluntary deorbiting guidelines.
  • Attribution: Identifying the source of debris is challenging, especially with older or fragmented objects.

Key Sources: Majority of debris objects originate from on-orbit break-ups as well as on-orbit collisions.

  • Space debris also originates from spent rocket stages, and use of space-based weapons (such as Anti-satellite missiles). 

Challenges associated with rising space debris 

Risk to operational satellites and to the life of astronauts, leads to high cost for maintaining satellites, etc.

Initiatives Taken

Global  

  • Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), established in 1993
  • UN Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, Prepared by UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) 
  • Zero Debris Charter: Signed by 12 countries - Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, etc. 

India  

  • Debris Free Space Missions (DFSM) 2030. 
  • ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Operations Management (IS4OM)
  • Established Space Situational Awareness Control Centre (SSACC)
  • Project Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA)
  • Tags :
  • Space Debris
  • Zero Debris Charter
  • Space Situational Awareness
  • Project NETRA
  • 1972 Liability Convention
Watch News Today
Subscribe for Premium Features