---
title: "A Derelict Space Habitat May Crash Into an Old Russian Satellite"
description: "There's a small chance that a defunct space habitat collides with a retired Russian satellite on Wednesday, illustrating the threat of space debris."
date: "2019-09-17"
modified: "2019-09-17"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/derelict-space-habitat-crash-russian-satellite"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "satellite"
  - "space"
  - "space debris"
  - "the digest"
---

# A Derelict Space Habitat May Crash Into an Old Russian Satellite

![There's a small chance that a defunct space habitat collides with a retired Russian satellite on Wednesday, illustrating the threat of space debris.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/derelict-space-habitat-crash-russian-satellite.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Bigelow Aerospace\</em\>*

## Crash Course

There's a small chance that two derelict satellites, still orbiting the Earth, could crash into each other on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, the space habitat development company Bigelow Aerospace [tweeted some troubling news](<https://twitter.com/BigelowSpace/status/1174007949863211008>). The Air Force sent them a heads up that their long-retired experimental habitat, Genesis II, might collide with an old Russian satellite named Cosmos 1300. While the odds of a crash are only 5.6 percent, it's another troubling sign that Earth's orbit is becoming dangerously crowded.

https://twitter.com/BigelowSpace/status/1174007949863211008

## Ships Passing

Bigelow Aerospace [followed up with a warning](<https://twitter.com/BigelowSpace/status/1174007951587045376>) about the rapid proliferation of space junk, which was most recently illustrated when one of SpaceX's numerous StarLink satellites [nearly crashed](<https://futurism.com/spacex-starlink-satellite-collision.md>) into a European Space Agency observation satellite.

As more satellites — including those launched by Bigelow Aerospace itself — fill the sky and begin their inevitable transition to becoming space junk, low Earth orbit will increasingly become a minefield for current and future space station inhabitants.

"This proliferation, if not controlled in number, could become very dangerous to human life in low Earth orbit," Bigelow Aerospace tweeted.

https://twitter.com/BigelowSpace/status/1174007951587045376

**More on space junk:** *[Watch a Harpoon Attached to a Satellite Spear a Piece of Space Debris](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/removedebris-satellite-harpoon-space-debris.md>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)

## More

- [Space Junk Reportedly Smashed a Chinese Military Satellite](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-junk-smashed-chinese-satellite.md>)
- [Watch a Harpoon Attached to a Satellite Spear a Piece of Space Debris](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/removedebris-satellite-harpoon-space-debris.md>)
- [Parasitic Spacecraft Docks With Dead Satellite, Brings It Back to Life](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/parasitic-spacecraft-docks-dead-satellite-back-life.md>)
- [Climate Change Is Apparently Doing Something Weird to Satellites](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/climate-change-weird-satellites.md>)
- [We Are Officially Sending a Habitat to Orbit the Moon](<https://futurism.com/we-are-officially-sending-a-habitat-to-orbit-the-moon.md>)
- [The Hotel of the Future Might be an Inflatable Habitat…in Space](<https://futurism.com/hotel-future-might-inflatable-habitat-space.md>)
- [NASA Spots Location Where Derelict Rocket Smashed Into the Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-location-rocket-smashed-moon.md>)
- [Russian Scientist Proposes Using Lasers to Melt Space Junk](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientist-proposes-lasers-melting-space-junk.md>)