SpaceX Cargo Arrives Safely at International Space Station Despite Close Call with Orbital Debris

The International Space Station (ISS) performed an orbital maneuver to avoid space debris just hours before the arrival of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The Russian Progress cargo spacecraft attached to the ISS fired its engines to raise the orbit of the station by approximately 3,000 feet. This maneuver comes as the number of satellites in space increases, leading to a higher risk of debris. SpaceX's Starlink satellites alone had to perform avoidance maneuvers over 25,000 times in a six-month period. The ISS has moved out of the way of space debris 37 times in 2023 alone.