China begins effort to curb space debris

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- China announced Wednesday it plans to begin three programs to monitor, prevent and curb the movements of debris in outer space.

A spokesman of the China National Space Administration told Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, that the CNSA will carry out the three programs between 2006 and 2020. It will also develop data banks and national standards for the implementation of the programs, the official said.

The CNSA said there are over 9,300 objects detected in the orbit, and only 6 percent of them are space vehicles that are still operating.