Two Defunct Satellites Barely Miss Each Other Above Earth

If they do collide, they will smash into one another at more than 30,000 miles per hour, leading to a cloud of debris circling the Earth.

By Jake Parks
Jan 29, 2020 10:00 PMJan 30, 2020 2:02 PM
iras 1
The IRAS satellite, shown here, was a joint mission by NASA, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom that carried out a full-sky survey in the infrared. Tonight, there's a small but significant chance it smashes into another satellite, GGSE-4, above Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Credit: NASA)

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[Update: The two satellites have narrowly missed each other, the AFP reports.]

Two inactive satellites orbiting Earth may collide high above Pittsburgh tonight at 6:39 p.m. EST. The odds of a collision, recently pegged at 1 in 100, now sit at 1 in 20, according to LeoLabs, a company that runs a ground-based radar array that monitors collision risks for objects in low-Earth orbit.

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