China launches 1st of 120 satellites to monitor space debris
Technology
China just launched the first of 120 planned satellites to keep an eye on space debris.
Sent up on a Lijian-1 rocket, this satellite is part of a big push to track all the junk floating around Earth as more rockets and satellites crowd our skies.
Gande Constellation aims to prevent collisions
The Gande Constellation will roll out in three phases and should be fully up before 2030.
The first batch, 14 satellites, will scan for dangerous debris in low Earth orbit, helping prevent collisions like the one that damaged China's Shenzhou-20 spacecraft in 2025.
With over 1 million pieces of debris threatening missions, this network aims to make space travel safer for everyone.