Over 14,000 satellites,120 mn pieces of debris crowding Earth orbit

Over 14,000 satellites and 120 million pieces of debris from launches and collisions surround the globe in low Earth orbit, data from US-based Slingshot Aerospace showed. A UN panel called for a shared database of orbital objects and an international framework to track and manage them. The rapid increase in space junk would make Lower Earth orbit unusable, experts said.