The crew of China's Shenzhou-20 mission have had to delay their return to Earth after concerns their spacecraft had been struck by space debris, China's Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Wednesday.

Newsweek reached out to the CMSA by email with a request for comment.

Why It Matters

The incident highlights the risks posed by an increasingly crowded low orbit. Traveling at speeds of up to five miles per second, or roughly eight kilometers per second, even tiny fragments of debris can severely damage space stations, crewed vehicles, and critical communication or defense satellites.

These risks have prompted the United States, China , and other spacefaring nations to develop advanced systems for tracking, avoiding, and potentially removing orbital debris.

In 2021, NASA astronauts were fo

See Full Page