Star Wars give way to Space Junk Wars

The junk left over by satellites launched into space is causing great concern, say Russian scientists. The Russian Academy of Sciences warns that the junk could lead to wars on the earth if a country suspects the destruction of its satellite as a deliberate act by the enemy. The academy pointed out that in 2007, China had destroyed erstwhile Soviet junk in space. The destruction gave rise to 3000 pieces floating in space and threatening orbiting satellites. Supposing the destruction was not that of space junk but a military satellite, things would have been difficult to determine whether it was deliberate or otherwise. Russia lost a satellite in 2013, when it had encountered space junk. The Russians had then alleged that the space junk created by China's deliberate attack on its disused satellite had caused the destruction of the Russian satellite. Against such a space scenario, India has to guard against space junk. Although it is launching satellites by the dozen, the Indian Space Research Organisation is expected to take all care and also long-term insurance because it is dealing with satellites of various nations which India is launching. Star Wars was the scenario raised during the Cold War era between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union.