It's a sad irony, but an irony nonetheless, that this week the European Space Agency announced that a piece of space debris — left in orbit by a 2013 launch of Arianespace's Vega rocket and the target of a removal mission — appears to have been struck by other space debris. But the ISS itself may have to dodge space debris this afternoon, with station controllers considering changing its altitude. The risk posed by space debris is not a novel problem for the industry, but it's an ever more pressing one. Satellites and space debris are largely tracked via ground-based radars and telescopes. Debris removal is a nascent part of the broader satellite servicing market (also known as In-Space Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing, or ISAM).

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Persons: Michael Sheetz —, It's, Arianespace's, Brian Weeden, wasn't, Weeden Organizations: CNBC, European Space Agency, ESA, OTB Ventures, NASA, SpaceX, International Space, Secure, Foundation, Aerospace, NorthStar, Manufacturing, Cargo Locations: Swiss, U.S, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India