Nasa satellite's 'shocking' space junk near-miss was even closer than thought

Nasa's TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian spy satellite Cosmos 2221 experienced an alarmingly close encounter in orbit, space.com reported. Initial estimates suggested that the two satellites passed within 65 feet (20 meters) of each other. Currently, there are approximately 11,500 satellites orbiting Earth, with 9,000 of them being operational, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).