Satellite Takes Selfie to Show it Was Hit by Space Debris

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A satellite orbits above Earth's surface near the U.S. West Coast. An inset shows a close-up of a 6 mm impact on the satellite's surface from orbital debris or a micrometeoroid. The Earth below appears as a vast, sandy landscape.

A satellite has taken a selfie revealing a small hole in it — highlighting the dangers of space junk.

Although it’s not clear exactly what caused the 6mm gash in the NanoAvionics MP42 satellite, the Lithuanian company says it was either a tiny piece of space debris or a micrometeoroid.

NanoAvionics is also unsure when the accident happened as the onboard camera hadn’t taken a photo of the affected solar panel for the past 18 months until it did so in mid-October.

“The last time MP42 took a selfie before then was in April of 2023, so the incident happened sometime during that 1.5-year timeframe,” explains NanoAvionics

Thankfully the hole is so small that the company has reported no measurable drop in the solar panel’s electricity output.

A satellite in space over the South Pole has a visible impact mark from orbital debris or a micrometeoroid. A zoomed-in inset shows a 6 mm size indication of the damage on a solar panel surface.

“Whether this impact was from a micrometeoroid or a piece of space debris, the collision highlights the need for responsible space operations in orbit and makes us reflect on satellite resilience against these types of events,” NanoAvionics says in the statement.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are nearly three million kilograms (3,300 tons) of man-made objects orbiting within 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of Earth. But there are only 200 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of meteoroid mass present in Earth’s orbit at any given moment.

NanoAvionics explains on the social media platform X that NASA sent a Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) into low-Earth orbit for six years to test the environment and found that 23 percent of the impact craters on LDEF were of meteoric origin while 51 percent were found to be space debris. The remaining 26 percent was unknown.

“Either way, the collision highlights the need for responsible space operations in orbit. As signatories of ESA’s Zero Debris Charter, we’re committed to the charter’s ambitious goal of achieving zero debris by 2030,” adds NanoAvionics.

Space junk is not just a concern for adventurers in orbit; astrophotographers and astronomers on Earth have warned that the increasing number of satellies in space — particularly Starlink — is blocking the ability to view the wider Universe.

Earlier this year, photographer Josh Dury captured a bright pass of a Starlink satellite train to highlight the impact they are having in the night sky.

Image credits: NanoAvionics

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