Space junk does seem to be a growing problem. The target for a space debris cleanup mission is apparently in pieces. A leftover rocket adapter, expected to be removed from low Earth orbit in 2026 ...

There's a small crisis emerging in outer space ... for the final approach and eventual docking with a floating chunk of space junk. This mission will launch in 2027 and will bring the H-IIA ...

The European Space Agency (ESA) noted in its Annual Space Environment Report that more than 6,600 tons of space junk are currently floating about ... of space debris, as small as a millimeter ...

A recent paper in the journal Science calling for an international treaty to address space debris says there might be 100 trillion pieces of junk floating ... for removing small debris, and ...

So for really large pieces of space junk, so I'm talking large satellites that are abandoned or we have upper stage rocket bodies that are floating ... down to the really small scales.

While the floating space junk is certainly a problem ... "Being paid compensation after the event would be a small consolation for someone killed or seriously injured," Gorman said.

These explosions add to the 170 million pieces of 1-millimeter debris currently floating in space ... team observed a small but temporary reduction in power—space agencies could ignore it ...

Space debris — non-functioning manmade materials floating around space — can pose ... event still circulate in orbit, posing a small but potential threat to other functioning spacecraft ...