The scales of the space debris problem

An impressive shot from ESA's latest space debris movie: Time to Act.

The launch of Sputnik, humankind’s first satellite, in 1957 marked the dawn of a new era for the people of the 'Pale Blue Dot'.

Decades later, our planet is now surrounded by spacecraft carrying out extraordinary work. But they are up against a huge problem, they share space with millions of fragments of fast-moving and dangerous space debris.