🇨🇳🚀👨‍🚀 This week, three Chinese astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-20 mission were stranded in orbit after their return capsule was reportedly struck by a small piece of debris, which forced an emergency postponement of their return to Earth. Incidents like this highlight how orbital congestion is no longer a distant concern but an immediate threat to human life and the sustainability of outer space operations. 🇺🇳 COPUOS addresses these challenges through the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines and the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities (LTS Guidelines). These instruments provide international frameworks for preventing the creation of new debris and reducing risks from existing objects. The next frontier is national implementation, making sure they become concrete, domestic policies, regulations, and operational practices. However, only about 40,000 space objects are large enough to be tracked, despite estimates suggesting as many as 130 million pieces of debris....