Skip to content
Triumph Horizon
Log in
Aerospace glossary

Orbital debris

Also called space debris, space junk

Defunct satellites, spent stages and fragments left in orbit. At orbital speeds even small pieces can damage spacecraft, so operators track debris and maneuver to avoid it.

Used in these articles

Related terms

Launch and spaceflight operations

Related coverage

Subscribers read the desk company and technology reports on the names it covers, including new reports before they are published on datadeep.tech.