Significant danger in orbit: the ISS faces a collision threat for the second time in six days.

For the second time in six days, the ISS had to alter its trajectory in low Earth orbit to avoid a collision with a piece of space debris. This fragment was from a non-functioning satellite, according to Space.

Nasa reported that for the second time in less than a week, the same cargo ship fired its engines on November 25 to prevent the ISS from colliding with another piece of space debris, which is part of a non-operational satellite, although it is unclear which one.

The engines of the "Progress" spacecraft operated for 5.5 minutes during the first maneuver, while this time they functioned for 3.5 minutes. This allowed the ISS to rise 500 meters higher above Earth, thereby averting the collision threat.

The "Progress" spacecraft arrived at the ISS back in August of this year and will soon be sent back to Earth with waste that astronauts moved there, where it will burn up in the atmosphere. It's worth noting that Russian cargo ships like "Progress" assist the ISS in maintaining a stable orbit with their engines. This is one of the reasons why NASA has not severed its collaboration with Russia regarding the ISS following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The ISS is situated in low Earth orbit, and currently, this segment of near-Earth space is becoming overcrowded due to the vast number of both operational satellites and space debris. Approximately 10,200 active satellites are currently orbiting Earth, with most belonging to SpaceX's Starlink constellation.

However, there is significantly more space debris in orbit. Scientists estimate that there are about 40,500 fragments measuring at least 10 cm, 1.1 million fragments ranging from 1 to 10 cm, and roughly 130 million fragments measuring at least 1 mm.

Even these tiny pieces of space debris pose a substantial risk to active satellites and the ISS. The fragments orbit Earth at the same altitude as the ISS (approximately 400 km) at speeds of about 28,000 km/h. Given this speed, even the smallest debris can cause serious damage to the orbital station.

Over the past 25 years, the ISS has had to evade fragments of space debris more than 30 times. Recent events indicate that the threat of collision with space debris is increasing.