This animation shows different types of space debris objects and different debris sizes in orbit around Earth.
For debris objects bigger than 10 cm the data come from the US Space Surveillance Catalogue.
The information about debris objects smaller than 10 cm is based on a statistical model by ESA.
Number of space debris objects in orbit:
Greater than 1m: 5 400 objects
Greater than 10 cm: 34 000 objects (among them are only 2 000 active satellites)
Greater than 1cm: 900 000 objects
Greater than 1mm: 130 000 000 objects
Colour code:
Red: satellites (functional or dysfunctional)
Yellow: rocket bodies
Green: mission related objects (covers, caps, adapters, etc.)
Blue: fragments
More information: http://www.esa.int/debris
Credit/Courtesy: ESA
