ORBITAL DEBRIS UPDATE: Space junk reaching “tipping point,” report warns. “The amount of debris orbiting the Earth has reached ‘a tipping point’ for collisions, which would in turn generate more of the debris that threatens astronauts and satellites, according to a U.S. study released on Thursday. NASA needs a new strategic plan for mitigating the hazards posed by spent rocket bodies, discarded satellites and thousands of other pieces of junk flying around the planet at speeds of 17,500 miles per hour, the National Research Council said in the study.”

Here’s a piece that Rob Merges and I wrote for the Environmental Law Reporter last year on the subject.