You may not have noticed, but there are millions of pieces of garbage above your head - in space. Orbiting the Earth are nearly 30,000 objects the size of a fist, 750,000 just one centimetre large and 150 million smaller than a millimetre.
As if polluting the Earth wasn't enough, humans are also treating the galaxy as a waste bin by sending satellites and rockets into space where they just leave them, even when they’re no longer in use.
In March 2019, India intentionally destroyed one of its satellites with a missile, creating an extra 400 pieces of debris and endangering astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
France's celebrated astronaut Thomas Pesquet explains why space debris is both a problem of security as well as pollution.
