---
title: "Space Station Forced to Dodge Space Junk Again"
description: "The International Space Station fired its thrusters to avoid incoming space junk yet again, a worrying sign the problem is getting worse."
date: "2023-08-25"
modified: "2023-08-25"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-station-forced-dodge-space-junk-again"
categories:
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "international space station"
  - "space debris"
  - "space junk"
  - "the digest"
---

# Space Station Forced to Dodge Space Junk Again

![The International Space Station fired its thrusters to avoid incoming space junk yet again, a worrying sign the problem is getting worse.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/space-station-forced-dodge-space-junk-again.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Course Correction

The International Space Station had to fire its thrusters to avoid incoming space junk yet again this week.

"On Thursday, the International Space Station's Zvezda service module engines were fired for 21.5 seconds... to maneuver the complex away from the predicted track of an orbital debris fragment," NASA officials wrote in a [blog update](<https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/08/24/station-preps-for-new-cargo-crew-and-avoids-space-debris/>).

As a result, the station's orbit moved by roughly 1,640 feet, according to [Russian state media](<https://tass.ru/kosmos/18581561>). The maneuver did not interfere with a scheduled docking procedure of Russia's Progress MS-24 transport cargo ship, which [docked with the station](<https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1694919579196117394?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet>) early Friday morning.

Nonetheless, it's yet another ominous indication that Earth's orbit is becoming increasingly littered with junk, quickly turning it into an even more hazardous place to travel.

## Junked Up

It's [far](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/iss-dodge-debris-satellite-weapon>) from the [first](<https://futurism.com/iss-astronauts-shelter-mysterious-debris>) [time](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-station-burn-debris-russia>) the station has had to fire its thrusters to avoid space junk. Since 1999, the station has had to correct its course a whopping 30 times, as [*Space.com* points out](<https://www.space.com/international-space-station-space-dodge-debris-how-often>). These maneuvers have only become more frequent as more satellites and other payloads are sent into orbit, many of which are doomed to keep circling the Earth long after they're decommissioned.

To stop the ISS from being shredded by space debris traveling at 17,5000 mph, NASA is [tracking an area of 30 by 30 miles](<https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html>), with the station in the center. Any tracked space debris that comes within this range can trigger a course correction.

With an increasingly littered orbit, space agencies are starting to turn to possible solutions. For instance, the European Space Agency recently launched its ClearSpace-1 mission, a spacecraft that's designed to claw onto space debris to dispose of it.

Ironically, the spacecraft's latest target [got hit by a smaller object](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-junk-hit-by-more-space-junk>) earlier this week.

"This fragmentation event underlines the relevance of the ClearSpace-1 mission," ESA officials noted in a [statement](<https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Objects_detected_in_the_vicinity_of_ClearSpace-1_debris_removal_mission_target>).

While the space station's own days are [technically already numbered](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-spacecraft-destroy-iss>), any future spacecraft venturing through our planet's orbit will have a minefield of potentially hazardous debris to navigate.

And that doesn't bode well, considering humanity's growing appetite for off world exploration.

**More on the ISS:** *[Cosmonauts Caught Littering Directly Into Space During Spacewalk](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/cosmonauts-littering-space-during-spacewalk>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)