Day: October 6, 2025

A new listing of the 50 most concerning pieces of space debris in low-Earth orbit is dominated by relics more than a quarter-century old, primarily dead rockets left to hurtle through space at the end of their missions.

“The things left before 2000 are still the majority of the problem,” said Darren McKnight, lead author of a paper presented Friday at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney. “Seventy-six percent of the objects in the top 50 were deposited last century, and 88 percent of the objects are rocket bodies. That’s important to note, especially with some disturbing trends right now.”

The 50 objects identified by McKnight and his coauthors are the ones most likely to drive the creation of more space junk in low-Earth orbit (LEO) through collisions with other debris fragments. The objects are whizzing around the Earth at nearly 5 miles per second, flying in a heavily trafficked part of LEO between 700 and 1,000 kilometers (435 to 621 miles) above the Earth.

An impact with even a modestly sized object at orbital velocity would create countless pieces of debris, potentially triggering a cascading series of additional collisions clogging LEO with more and more space junk, a scenario called the Kessler Syndrome.

McKnight, a senior technical fellow at the orbital intelligence company LeoLabs, spoke with Ars before the paper’s release. In the paper, analysts considered how close objects are to other space traffic, their altitude, and their mass. Larger debris at higher altitudes pose a higher long-term risk because they could create more debris that would remain in orbit for centuries or longer.

Russia and the Soviet Union lead the pack with 34 objects listed in McKnight’s Top 50, followed by China with 10, the United States with three, Europe with two, and Japan with one. Russia’s SL-16 and SL-8 rockets are the worst offenders, combining to take 30 of the Top 50 slots. Here’s the Top 10:

1. A Russian SL-16 rocket launched in 2004
2. Europe’s Envisat satellite launched in 2002
3. A Japanese H-II rocket launched in 1996
4. A Chinese CZ-2C rocket launched in 2013
5. A Soviet SL-8 rocket launched in 1985
6. A Soviet SL-16 rocket launched in 1988
7. Russia’s Kosmos 2237 satellite launched in 1993
8. Russia’s Kosmos 2334 satellite launched in 1996
9. A Soviet SL-16 rocket launched in 1988
10. A Chinese CZ-2D rocket launched in 2019

Everyone loves making cool videos, but the people and animals you want to film aren’t always reliable or willing subjects. Here’s where AI comes to the rescue, courtesy of Adobe — the new AI-powered Firefly Video Generator brings still images and illustrations to vibrant life, with your prompts acting as the creative powerhouse. All you need to create incredibly detailed video files is your imagination, a Firefly subscription, and a good internet connection to launch this web-based tool.

The Generate Video feature in Adobe Firefly is browser-based, working across platforms as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem. Its AI power allows you to create images entirely from scratch via text prompts, or breathe life into static images and illustrations that exist inside of other Adobe apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Express, and Premiere Pro. Something this powerful shouldn’t be this easy to use, yet Adobe Firefly’s Video Generator is exactly that — within minutes you’ll see your ideas coming to life, and your inner James Cameron will begin to blossom.

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All Roads Lead to Video

Adobe Firefly’s AI features can be deployed a few different ways. You can upload two still images to be used as keyframes for Firefly to generate motion between them, or you can upload a JPEG or PNG file and add a text prompt to tell Firefly exactly what you want it to do. You don’t need to be constrained by existing images, either — with Firefly’s Text to Image tool, your only constraint is your imagination. Firefly can also customize and optimize your images for whatever use you have in mind, with TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other ideal settings just a click away, along with customizable aspect ratios and frame shapes.

You’re also not hemmed in with one style of video creation, either. Lifelike moving pictures are definitely included, but so are other style presets like claymation, anime, and line art. Many of the other Adobe tools you’re used to if you’re a Photoshop user, like Generative Remove to eliminate unwanted objects from your creative works of art.

Take It For a (Free) Spin

The commercial possibilities of these AI-powered videos are obvious, and thankfully Adobe’s Firefly Video Model is built with that in mind. As long as you have the rights to the original image, you can feel free to use your creations at will without worrying about licensing or rights issues.

If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud plan or a Firefly plan, you can take the AI Video Generator for a spin for free, with a limited number of uses. Once you’re hooked, there are paid plans for all levels of usage, with the option of purchasing more credits to keep your creative options flowing.

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