New Delhi, March 18 As of March 2026, a total of 129 trackable pieces of space debris originating from Indian satellite missions are in orbit, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the minister stated that in low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), there are 23 and 26 defunct satellites, respectively.
He also mentioned that "rocket bodies remaining in orbit from PSLV (40), GSLV (4), and LVM3 (3), as well as debris generated due to the breakup of the PSLV C3 rocket body (33)," are also present.
The minister also highlighted the Debris Free Space Mission (DFSM) initiative, announced in 2024, which aims for zero debris creation by all Indian actors, both government and private, by 2030.
"As a step towards achieving the DFSM objectives, ISRO has institutionalized the process to ensure extra fuel margins for both spacecraft and launch vehicles, during the mission design and project initialisation phase itself," the minister said.
He also stated that studies are underway on robotic arms, rendezvous, and proximity operations, which serve as precursors to active debris removal.
"India achieved a significant milestone in 2025 through its SpaDeX mission, demonstrating autonomous rendezvous, docking, and undocking capabilities."
"A relocatable robotic arm and a robotic manipulator were also successfully demonstrated on the upper stage of the launch vehicle for this mission, namely the PS4 orbital experimental module or POEM-4 platform," the minister added.
