The first photo of space debris captured by a Japanese satellite saw 3 ton of broken rocket

Space agencies around the world use rockets to send satellites into space. Out of them, only the rocket of Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is reusable. Rockets of most space agencies turn into debris after completing their work in space and fall to the earth. Most of the times the place of their fall is not known. For the first time, a Japanese satellite has captured a huge rocket debris weighing 3 tons.

Reports According to, a satellite of Astroscale Japan detected the 15-year-old rocket fragment and clicked its picture. Interestingly, Astroscale was launched in February this year. It used cameras installed in the satellite and accurate calculations to reach the rocket debris.

The initial purpose of the satellite was to capture images of space debris, document its condition, and prove whether or not a satellite could reach any space debris.

Astroscale Japan aims to safely remove space debris in the future. It wants to launch another satellite equipped with robotic arms. The rocket debris that was detected also belongs to Japan. An environmental sensing satellite was launched in 2009 with the help of the rocket.

It is worth noting that space debris has raised concerns of countries around the world. Space agencies of Russia, America and China launch their missions every day and are increasing space debris. America has even accused China that the Chinese Space Agency does not dispose of its space debris properly. However, this ‘garbage’ usually burns up while entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Or falls into the Pacific Ocean. In only a few cases, pieces of space debris have fallen in populated areas.

There are 9000 metric tons of debris in space

According to reports, by the year 2022, more than 9 thousand metric tons of space debris will be orbiting our planet. Due to this, existing satellites can be affected. It can disrupt communication on Earth and increase the risk to astronauts.